Attleboro Gas Station Clerk Shot During Attempted Robbery

ATTLEBORO (CBS) - A clerk was shot and wounded during an attempted robbery at a gas station in Attleboro early Monday morning.

The clerk, who has not been identified, was working at the Mobil on Newport Avenue when he was confronted by a masked man with a gun around 2 a.m., according to police. The clerk said he wrestled with the man and pulled off the mask.

The clerk was then shot once in the lower abdomen. The gunman ran off but the clerk was able to flag down a police officer, who called an ambulance. The clerk was taken to a hospital in Rhode Island with what police described as a "single non-life-threatening gunshot wound."

Investigators described the gunman as a "small-framed, light-skinned, black male with small braids on top of his head." They also said he was wearing dark clothes along with the mask, which was described as "monkey style."

"We know that the suspect is slight of stature, approximately 5'4" to 5'8", believed to be a male," said Attleboro Police Lt. Brian Kelley. "Braided style dreadlocks, maybe short braids on top of his head."

Police say they are reviewing the gas station's surveillance video, but stop short of linking this to another area robbery despite a bizarre similarity. Surveillance video from an armed robbery that took place at a gas station in Providence Sunday morning shows a suspect, described as a woman, also wearing a monkey mask.

"It's a little too premature in the investigation to do that," Lt. Kelley said. "There are some similarities but we want to make sure that we cover all our bases first."