TILTON – Police were searching Monday night for a man held up a local convenience store clerkwith a handgun.

Police Chief Robert Cormier said the armed robbery occurred at 3:15 p.m. at the Tilton Shop Express at 622 Laconia Road.

The suspect, who was wearing dark clothing and a dark colored mask covering his face, entered the store and showed the clerk that he had a handgun tucked in his waist, Cormier said.

“He demanded the clerk put money into a bag,” Cormier said.

The man fled with an undisclosed amount of cash on foot behind the store toward Lancaster Hill Road.

Tilton Police were joined by state police and officers from other area police departments in searching an area between Laconia Road and Lancaster Hill Road, east of Grange Road, he said.

The search was made more difficult by the stormy weather.

“Hurricane Sandy made the searching extremely difficult with heavy rain and high winds,” Cormier said. “This call came in during the storm when we were also responding to calls for service related to the storm.”

Tilton police are asking anyone who was near the store or the neighborhood during the time of the robbery to contact the Tilton Police Department at 285-4442 or the Tilton Police detectives at 286-8207, extension 107.

dseufert@newstote.com