SPRINGVILLE, Alabama - A blonde, ponytailed woman who brandished an AR-15 during a holdup at Springville's Dollar General this morning was confident and seemed to know what she was doing, police said.

"She looked like she knew how to handle a firearm,'' said Springville police Chief Bill Lyle. "She seemed so adept at what she was doing."

Lyle gave this account of what happened: The woman entered the store about 8:12 a.m. as the store was opening. She was wearing overalls with black suspenders and a red top underneath. Though her hair was blonde, her roots were dark.

She looked around the store for a few minutes, and then told the cashier she had to go to her car to get her cell phone to make sure the part she wanted to buy for the phone was compatible with what she had. When she returned, the cashier was in the business office getting the money drawers to open the registers.

The robber went back to the business office, having added a black jacket to her outfit. She pulled the AR-15 from her pants and took hold of some cash drawers. She then forced the cashier to the register area, where she cleaned out the safes located there.

When she fled the store, she took with her the business's cordless telephone, apparently the only phone in the entire shop, the police chief said. The cashier locked the door behind her and saw her flee in a white SUV-type vehicle. "That's the last time she was seen,'' Lyle said.

It wasn't clear how much money she took, but Lyle said it couldn't have been more than a couple of hundred dollars. "Apparently they don't open with that much money,'' the chief said.

Police are currently working to get surveillance videotape enhanced. Lyle said he feels like someone might be able to identify her once that is complete.

"The whole thing was kind of unusual,'' Lyle said. "We have no reports of anything like that happening anywhere around here."

Anyone with information on the woman's identity or whereabouts is asked to call Springville police at 205-467-2701.