Home / Fall 2015 / Armed robbery at Sustella market under investigation

Armed robbery at Sustella market under investigation

Photo Illustration: Kayla Stroud/THE SPECTATOR

Written by Kristin Whitman, Sports Editor

VSUPD is still investigating an armed robbery that occurred on Tuesday, Nov. 16, in Sustella Market located on the first floor of Centennial Hall East.

As stated by the campus alert email that was sent out, the robbery was reported at 10:45 p.m. with the offender being described as a white male, approximately 5-foot-8, wearing a black “hoodie” sweatshirt and in possession of a handgun.

The robbery was deemed isolated after the individual was seen running away from campus by witnesses. There was no alert sent out to VSU students and employees immediately following the incident.

“There was no need for an immediate alert because, under clergy, there was no immediate threat to the community,” Police Chief Ronald Seacrist said. “The decision was made to not send out an alert that may have caused a false panic.”

The email was sent to Valdosta State email addresses at 9:43 a.m. the following morning of the event.

The call to report was said to have been made 45 minutes after the initial robbery because of alert system issues.

“Apparently, there are problems with the alert system in the store and it did not activate at first. However, this was seen as a onetime event and the robber had already left, and been seen running away from campus.

“We will be reviewing videos from the cameras around campus and conducting a normal investigation to figure this out,” Seacrist said.

Although this incident did not call for an immediate alert from university police, the VSU police force has hopes to make all text and call alerts mandatory for campus.

“We are pushing to make the text alerts mandatory for all students, faculty, and staff,” Seacrist said. “As of now they have to be initiated by signing up.”
The other armed robbery reported by VSU email alerts system this semester was near campus at Ann and Williams St. These reports are among a few of the crimes reported through email alert for fall 2015.

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