While the community reacts to news of a morning robbery of Columbia High School students, now the report of a second incident — an attempted robbery — on the same morning has surfaced.
According to a release from Maplewood Police Captain Dawn William, two CHS students, ages 13 and 14, were walking east on West Parker Avenue at 7:15 a.m. on Thursday, October 22, and were headed toward school when they were approached from behind by two males in the area of Dunnell Road.
One of the males, described as about 16 years of age, demanded the students’ cell phones and “threatened to kill them if they ran.” However, no weapon was “shown or implied during the incident.”
The students disregarded the teen, said Williams, and continued to school without incident. They reported the incident to police on Thursday night.
One suspect in the incident is described as a black male, approximately 16-years-old, 5’7″, short black hair, wearing a black hooded sweatshirt with white writing on the front, and newer style basketball sneakers. The second suspect is described as black male, approximately 5’9″, wearing a white hooded sweatshirt.
There was no vehicle observed by the victims.
In response to a question about whether or not the two Thursday morning incidents might be related, Williams responded, “I can only report that these are two separate incidents. I am unable to comment further on the investigation at this time.”
In a report released yesterday, Maplewood Police described another incident near the same time and location, where two CHS were robbed by a man who threatened to shoot them but showed no weapon.
The students were walking on West Parker Avenue between 7 and 7:15 a.m. when they were approached by a man as they passed Buckingham Gardens Parkway, said Capt. Dawn Williams in a release. The man demanded the students’ cell phones and money and allegedly threatened to shoot them if they did not comply, Williams said. No weapon was shown, but a weapon was implied, she said.
The man was described as black, possibly in his 20s, approximately 6′ tall with a muscular build and irregular teeth, wearing a dark colored hooded sweatshirt and a black North Face fleece. A second man possibly involved in robbery incident was seen standing near a black car parked on Buckingham Gardens Parkway; he was described as black, approximately 5’10” tall with a regular build, wearing a dark colored sweatshirt, said Williams. The car was described as a black, 4-door.
