Police Search Gloucester County School For Bank Robber
WESTVILLE, N.J. (AP) -- Police went classroom-to-classroom inside an elementary school Tuesday looking for a bank robber who was reportedly seen nearby, but ended the search hours later without finding the suspect.
Heavily armed police set up a perimeter around the Parkview School in Westville after a nearby bank was robbed and witnesses reported seeing a "suspicious male" near the school. Authorities were not certain whether the robber ever entered the building, said Bill Bittner, Westville's emergency management coordinator.
The robbery occurred shortly before 1 p.m. Tuesday at the Colonial National Bank in the suburban community of 4,500, which sits directly across the Delaware River from Philadelphia. The robber dropped cash on the sidewalk as he fled. Authorities said the man, who wore a white scarf over his face, did not display a gun.
The Gloucester County Times of Woodbury reported that police did a room-by-room search of the school assisted by the principal. Once their classrooms were cleared, children were taken to a nearby church, authorities said. All of them were safely removed from the school, officials said.
Police concluded their search of the school late Tuesday afternoon. The suspect remained at large.
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