KEY POINTS:
A courier driver had one clear thought as the end of a double-barrelled shot gun was shoved in his face - he didn't want to die.
"I was scared, shocked, amazed, a lot of things at the same time. I just didn't know what to think or believe but I did have a fear of being shot. I didn't want to be shot."
The 25-year-old, who did not want to be named, had stopped at the Trimmer Dairy in Papatoetoe to buy cigarettes when he found himself in just such a situation last Tuesday.
He had just reached the counter when four men walked into the Shirley Rd shop at 4pm. One of them had a shotgun which security camera footage shows was aimed directly at the back of the courier driver's head.
"As I was trying to buy my smokes, someone from the back said, 'Get down, this is a robbery' and I was like 'Yeah whatever'. He said it a couple of times so I turned around and saw the gun pointed at me and I was like 'Shit man, this is for real'."
The man did as he was told with prompting from the shotgun's barrel.
"I didn't want to get shot ... I pretty much just listened to what they said and lay on the floor.
"I was trying to make them happy so no shots would be fired.
"My eyes were closed and I didn't know what was going on ... I was trying to block it all out because I didn't want any of it. I didn't want to be there so I was trying to act invisible."
With the other robbers watching him, the gunman turned his attention to the 60-year-old shopkeeper, a man who wanted to be known only as Aziz.
"First they say open the till so I open the till," he said. "Then they put the gun at my stomach and ordered me to lay down on the floor."
Aziz, who has been robbed three times before, knew the best thing to do was co-operate with the gunman's demands so he crouched down and put his hands above his head.
"It was pretty scary. I put my hands up just like in the films because I didn't want them to retaliate. I didn't want to see their faces."
The robbers stole money from the till, cigarettes and tobacco. Before leaving, the gunman prodded the courier driver with the shotgun, a move police believe was designed as a warning for him not to try to follow them.
They left in a silver Mazda Familia stationwagon, which had a large crack in the windscreen. The car was not stolen but police have been unable to trace it.
Detective Senior Sergeant Neil Grimstone said police wanted to hear from anyone with information about the group or car that had a registration of DME99.
"These guys need to realise that you can't behave like this in broad daylight and not expect to be caught."
He also appealed to the robbers to consider contacting police before they were tracked down.
"In the cold hard light of day, one of these guys might be having second thoughts about what he did that afternoon, realise he is out of his depth and might want to pick up the phone and give us a call."
Anyone with information is asked to contact Mangere CIB on 250-0559.
