KENLY -- Deputies are hunting for two other male suspects after arresting two Raleigh teenagers Thursday morning. The arrests followed the shootings of two convenience store clerks in robberies about 20 minutes apart in Johnston County, authorities said.
The wounds the store clerks suffered Wednesday were not life-threatening, sheriff's spokeswoman Tammy Amaon said.
During one of the robberies, the store clerk returned fire, wounding one of the arrested teens and possibly pocking the side of one of two getaway cars with bullets.
Deputies arrested Keith Mason, 17, and Kwame Bellamy, 19, both of Raleigh. They are being held in the Johnston County jail with bail set at $500,000. Bellamy was slightly wounded, Amaon said. The pair were arrested shortly after going to WakeMed's Raleigh campus to get treatment for Bellamy, Amaon said.
They face charges of robbery with a dangerous weapon, kidnapping, and assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill or inflict serious injury in the second of two robberies, Amaon said. Both also face conspiracy charges.
Investigators think two other suspects who know Mason and Bellamy participated in the robberies. One suspect is described as a thin black male, about 6 feet tall, last seen wearing a black or blue bandanna, long white shorts, a lime green shirt and white shoes and armed with a handgun. The other suspect is described as a stocky black male, about 5-feet-9, last seen wearing a red baseball cap, a blue or black bandanna, a black shirt and dark jeans and armed with a handgun.
Deputies are looking for two cars used in the robberies - an early 1990s gold Nissan Maxima four-door and a late '90s dark green Pontiac Grand Prix two-door with a sunroof, tan interior and bullet holes in the passenger side.
Both Shop-N-Go clerks were taken to WakeMed Raleigh Campus, Amaon said. Authorities identified them as Wesley Davis, 62, and Herith Alkiefy, 18.
Alkiefy was treated and released, a WakeMed spokeswoman said. Davis was listed in good condition.
The first shooting occurred about 8:45 p.m. Wednesday at the Shop-N-Go at N.C. 42 East and N.C. 222, in the Stancil's Chapel community near Kenly, Amaon said. Two armed men wearing bandannas demanded money and shot the clerk, she said.
Investigators are uncertain who committed that crime, Amaon said.
About 20 minutes later at the Shop-N-Go at 13597 N.C. 39, which is about eight miles away near Zebulon, two young men came in with a gun and held up the clerk, Amaon said. The clerk was shot, she said, but exchanged gunfire with the robbers, wounding Bellamy.
