A lone gunman entered and burglarized the State Employees Credit Union on Hillsborough Street Tuesday morning before fleeing, according to police.

“I don’t have much on it at this point. We’re still working on a report,” Jim Sughrue, public information officer for the Raleigh Police Department, said. ”That the robbery occurred just before 11:30 a.m. at the SECU on Hillsborough Street,  and preliminary information is that one suspect was involved, thought to be a black male armed with a handgun.”

According to Sughrue, the suspect, who is still at large, was relatively tall at about six feet with a stocky build and possibly wearing a black hooded sweatshirt.  He fled the scene on foot.

The N.C. State Police Department sent out Wolf Alert messages and e-mails after receiving the report from Raleigh PD.

“The Raleigh police department made us aware of a bank robbery that occurred at 11:30,” Jon Barnwell of NC State PD said.  “Initial reports said the suspect fled the credit union on foot and was last seen at the intersection of Hillsborough Street and Dan Allen Drive, possibly headed towards campus.”

Based on these initial reports, campus police decided to utilize the Wolf Alert text message and e-mail systems to warn students of a possible risk.

“Since he was armed with a handgun and could have been isolated to an area near campus, we utilized our text system as well as crime alert email,” Barnwell said.  ” Even though it occurred off campus, it was a potential threat on the border of campus so we wanted to make students aware so they could avoid danger.”

According to Barnwell, later footage examined from the bank cameras showed that the suspect had actually fled north on Brooks Ave. away from campus, so the alert was then removed from the website. “We just didn’t want to take any chances,” he said.

Even though it was eventually realized the robber actually posed little risk to students, Barnwell said it’s still good to play it safe. It also provided good practice for the future.

“Bank robberies around campus have happened before, and typically they flee away from campus as he did today,” he said.  “With the initial reports showing the suspect fleeing towards campus, it provided a good test of the Wolf Alert system, which was successful.”

Employees of the SECU, which closed its doors for the remainder of the day to deal with the matter, were unavailable for comment.

Students around campus quickly heard about the commotion, but many said it didn’t affect them.

“I was in class when it happened, and by the time I got out it was over,” Charles Dalton Haynes, a sophomore in accounting, said. “It really didn’t affect me because by the time I heard about it I was pretty far from where it happened and I felt no immediate threat to my safety.”

Tyler Tingle, a senior in polymer-color chemistry, agreed he felt little threat, but expressed other worries.

“As an individual with money in the State Employees Credit Union, I was more concerned that my money was going to be okay than with my personal safety,” Tingle said.  “I really didn’t feel threatened at all and it doesn’t change how safe I do or don’t feel around that area.”

Lauren Warwick, a senior in psychology, was closer to the scene when it all went down.

“I was standing on the street corner [of Brooks and Hillsborough] with my roommate, and by the time I reached the end of the street there was a flood of police officers with guns,” Warwick said.  “I didn’t feel much of a threat at that time since I really wasn’t sure what was going on yet, but looking back I’m glad I locked my doors since I live very close by.”

While Tingle said he was glad no one was hurt, he hopes this won’t become a more regular occurrence. 

“This is the first time I can remember something like this happening,” Tingle said.  “My hope is that this is just a random act and nothing else follows.”

Haynes agreed.

“I still feel safe on campus as long as things like this are only happening once in a blue moon.”