The public’s help is needed in solving an armed robbery that happened before dawn today at J-Mart on U.S. 72 in Athens.

About 3:50 a.m., a black man armed with a butcher knife — wearing a sheet with a hole cut for his eyes and socks to cover his hands and arms — entered the convenience store at 72 and Hine Street and demanded money, said Athens Police spokesman Capt. Floyd Johnson.

The man, dressed in blue jeans and a black shirt over a white shirt, fled the store heading west on foot, Johnson said.

Tracking dogs from Limestone Correctional Facility were brought to the scene and tracked the suspect from the store to the Plainview Circle, where they lost his scent.

No one was injured in the robbery.

Anyone with information about the robbery is asked to call Sgt. Dustin Lansford at (256) 233-8700.