UPDATE: Shocked Residents Describe Armed Robbery in Ferndale

Gunshots, assault rifles and an armed robbery shook up a Ferndale neighborhood Monday evening.

Shortly after 7 p.m. Monday, Kim Kolaz was about to leave her home on Beaufield to pick up dinner for her and her husband, Rob Rose. As she left her house, just south of West Nine Mile Road, she saw two officers slowly get out of a police car at the corner of Beaufield and West Nine Mile. The officers then pulled out what looked like assault rifles.

Kolaz quickly made her way back inside her home and she and her husband watched from a side window the armed robbery of , 825 W. Nine Mile Rd.

"What caught our eye were the police and the assault rifles," Rose said.

Ferndale Sgt. Detective Patrick Jones confirmed the robbery of the Ferndale Pharmacy and said no one was seriously hurt in the incident. All three suspects were apprehended, Ferndale Police Lt. Detective William Wilson announced at the end of the City Council meeting around 9 p.m. Monday.

Rose said it appeared the Ferndale police officers showed up before the robbery had concluded.

"The police were stealth and got around the building and I don't think the getaway driver initially saw them," Rose said.

The getaway driver, according to Rose, was parked in the Ferndale Pharmacy parking lot, just east of the building. One resident described the getaway vehicle as a minivan.

That's when Rose, Kolaz and Beaufield resident Rebecca Turcotte heard gunshots.

"My boyfriend told me to get the kids upstairs," said Turcotte, who has a 2-year-old and a 1 1/2-year-old.

Rose said the getaway driver took off toward Eight Mile Road and Ferndale Police went after it. "I saw one (police) car zip down Dover and saw another zip down Beaufield," Rose said. Very quickly after that, Rose said, the police car that went down Beaufield returned.

"There were still people in the building," Rose said.

Two males then walked out the back door of the store, Rose said. "They looked like they didn't have a clue there were police officers out there," he said.

One of the suspects had a "big bag of stuff," Rose said. The men quickly took off after Ferndale Police ordered them to freeze, he said.

"I saw a big dude in a blue shirt and a red hat come out of the back and take off," said Turcotte, who was shaken up and fearful after the incident. "They caught him somewhere near the fire department."

Doug Molloy lives just a few houses away from the pharmacy on Dover. "I heard four gunshots," Molloy said. "I knew they weren't firecrackers."

After he heard the sounds, Molloy said his dog, Shaggy, went running into the house, shaking.

"Then I saw the cops with shotguns," he said.

Molloy said a neighbor saw a big man run across the lawn and trip. "They handcuffed him right away," Molloy said.

Rose said he heard reports that the victims inside the Ferndale Pharmacy were hogtied. "They had lacerations on their wrists and one was hit in the head with a pistol," Rose said he was told.

Turcotte said she saw five people leave the Ferndale Pharmacy after the suspects fled.

A look inside the store afterward showed the cash register ripped apart, with wires sticking out and pieces missing.

In addition to Ferndale police, officers from Royal Oak and Hazel Park responded to the incident. Police officers were still canvassing the area shortly before 9 p.m.

Stay tuned to Ferndale Patch as more details become available.