Armed police were called to a kebab shop in the Rhondda after a man threatened staff with what appeared to be a gun when told to wear a face covering.
CCTV footage from the takeaway shows two men involved in a dispute before one pulls out what looks to be a gun and begins threatening those in the shop.
South Wales Police have arrested a 57-year-old man on suspicion of possessing an imitation firearm with intent to cause fear of violence.
The incident happened at around 10.30pm on Thursday at Rhondda Takeaway in Ystrad. The owner of the shop, Norma Hemming, said the man produced a firearm when told by the delivery driver that he must wear a mask in the shop.
She said: “I was downstairs doing some cleaning because it was the end of the night and I started to hear raised voices. What I now know is that the man was arguing with the driver and then he pulled a gun out.
“My husband came from behind the counter then and the man was pointing the gun at him.
“But the man with the gun was trying to get around my husband to the driver. It was the driver he had the issue with because the driver asked him to put on a mask when he came into the shop.
“He was saying things like he was Jesus and that Bill Gates wants us microchipped and they all want us controlled and all things like that."
Norma says the altercation started when the customer was asked to wear a face covering while in the takeaway.
“He came in as a customer and that’s when the driver said to put a mask on – that's when he pulled out the gun," she said.
“My husband kept him upstairs talking because he didn’t want him to come downstairs.
“The driver and a young boy of about 15 who was in the shop at the time both ran downstairs where me and the other staff were while my husband kept him upstairs.
“The driver got out the back and rung the police and that’s when all the armed police came.
“I was trying to calm down the driver who was crying and everything and the 15-year-old boy was in deep shock as well."
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Norma says the incident has made the family nervous to re-open the takeaway.
“We’ve never had anything like this before. It’s all family-run except for the drivers. All of us work here, the family.
“I am a bit nervous about opening back up to be honest with you.
“You hear about this stuff on the news but you never expect it to happen to you. You don’t expect anything like this.
“We’re nervous but we can’t let him win – it’s our livelihood.
“If asking people about a mask is going to cause something like this I’d rather not bother.
“Looking at the video makes you think: ‘Oh my God – what could have happened?’."
Norma's daughter Sarah Nicholas, who also works in the shop, said: “My mother rang me from downstairs while it was going on – luckily she had her phone with her.
“Her husband was still upstairs with the man with the gun trying to stop him going down.
“When you get a call like that you just don’t know what to think."
A spokesman for South Wales Police said on Friday: "Shortly before 10.30pm last night officers were called to an incident at a takeaway restaurant on Gelligaled Road in Pentre, Rhondda concerning a man with a firearm.
"Police officers, including armed officers, attended and a 57 year-old man from the Ystrad area was arrested on suspicion of possessing an imitation firearm with intent to cause fear of violence.
"He was taken to Merthyr Tydfil police station."
