Suspects at large after midday armed robbery in Penn Daw area

Hours after the robbery unmarked police cars were still at the crime scene.

Two men armed with handguns robbed a store in the 6100 block of North Kings Highway in the middle of the day Wednesday, setting off a manhunt that alarmed residents in the Penn Daw area.

The robbery happened at approximately 1:30 p.m. at Machucas, an unmarked store in a small shopping center at the corner of North Kings Highway and School St. According to a Fairfax Police spokesman, two men entered carrying handguns and made off with cash and property. Nobody was injured in the robbery, according to police.

Machucas is a MoneyGram money transfer location.

The robbery set off a search for the suspects, who were last seen going down School Street, according to a tweet from the Fairfax Police. Some residents reported being warned by police to stay in their houses, and several reported seeing police combing the area with dogs. The Fairfax 1 police helicopter was also involved in the police response.

Mount Eagle Elementary School is located a block away from the robbery site, and was placed in “Secure the Building” status for about 20 minutes due to the incident. “Secure the Building” status means that outdoor activities are canceled, exterior doors are locked and students must remain inside the building, according to John Torre, public information officer for Fairfax County Public Schools Schools. He said that Mount Eagle parents were notified of the incident by the school.

Today’s incident was at least the second armed robbery in the small shopping center in the last seven months. On September 3, a 7-Eleven in the shopping center was hit by a group of unidentified men believed to be involved in multiple 7-Eleven holdups in the area. Nobody has been arrested in connection with that incident.

The original post was edited on April 14 to reflect new information provided by a Fairfax County Public School spokesman.