BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — A weekend of fun turned into something one frequent Queen City visitor never expected.
A disturbing crime was allegedly caught on camera in Buffalo's Chippewa District.
The owners of the Banshee Irish Pub, on Franklin near Chippewa, shared a video showing one of their employees being held up at gunpoint over the weekend.
"Me and all my buddies had a few drinks with the Buffalo Bandits team since they won the championship," Evan Glynn told 7 News' Pheben Kassahun Tuesday afternoon.
Glynn is here from Ireland on a J-1 Visa, a work-and-study-based exchange visitor program.
He remembers leaving Pearl Street with his friends and then walking to the Banshee Irish Pub, where he works.
"We sat down to get an Uber and just out of nowhere, this dude pointed a gun and started pointing it at us and asked for money and stuff," Glynn explained.
Glynn said the suspect was yelling at them and made him and his friends empty their pockets, demanding they give the man money and when they could not do that, the suspect took Glynn's phone — all while pointing a gun at them. The incident happened around 4:45 a.m.
At one point, Glynn said the man hit him in the face with the gun.
"It's shocking. It kind of came out of nowhere," Glynn said.
The pub usually has security during business hours but because it happened outside of business hours, the men did not have backup.
Banshee Irish Pub co-owner, Connor Hawkins said, "It's embarrassing because Buffalo is a city we all call home now, and for that to happen to these Irish lads — they're from rural Ireland and it's not something they see back home."
He said nothing like this has ever happened to him in his 25 years of living in the States and he feels for them.
"This is their first weekend in Buffalo and they experience this. They are here to enjoy their summer. They paid a lot of money to work here for the summers and to have a bad experience in Buffalo is normally not like this." Hawkins said, "There are bad apples out there that take advantage of people and [hopes] it doesn't happen to anybody else. If anybody sees this video and recognizes the person, they can call Buffalo Police."
As for Glynn, he said he is just going to have to remain vigilant and hopes to get a new phone soon so he can stay up-to-date with his family back in Ireland.
"We were always told to be careful when we go to America and stuff like that. In Ireland, they say it can be very unsafe, but I've been in Buffalo a good few times and we've never had a problem. We've always enjoyed it. This is the first time I've ever seen a gun anyways," Glynn said.
Glynn told Kassahun he leaves to go back to Ireland in August, once his work visa expires.
Detectives with the Buffalo Police Department are investigating the armed robbery and are asking anyone with information should call or text the confidential tip line at (716) 847-2255.
