The Monroe County Sheriff’s Department is investigating an armed robbery that took place about 7:45 p.m. Thursday at Select Fuel & Convenience (formerly Cowell’s), located at 3745 State Route 3 just north of Red Bud.

Monroe County Sheriff Dan Kelley said a young white male with a small-to-medium build and dressed in black wearing a hooded mask and gloves walked into the store, displayed what appeared to be a dark semi-automatic pistol, and demanded cash from the male store clerk.

The clerk cooperated with the request, and the robber left the store with more than $200 from the register. He exited the east door near the pumps and was last seen running south. The clerk was not injured during the incident, and there were a few customers inside when the crime occurred.

A red Chevrolet Impala with Missouri license plates was not on the gas station lot when the robbery occurred, but was seen in the area around that time and police consider it suspicious.

Red Bud police were first to arrive on scene about 2.5 minutes after the crime occurred. They assisted the Monroe County Sheriff’s Department and Illinois State Police. A K-9 search of the area was conducted, but police were not able to locate the suspect.

Investigators are following up on multiple leads and viewing video surveillance in an attempt to identify a suspect, Kelley said on Friday morning.

Anyone with information related to this case is asked to call the MCSD at 939-8651.