West Brownsville Wal-Mart robbed
WEST BROWNSVILLE – An armed robber pointed a handgun at a customer service representative Tuesday morning at Wal-Mart on Route 40 in West Brownsville and made off with an undetermined amount of cash.
The robbery prompted officials in the California Area and Brownsville Area school districts to put schools on lockdown as police searched for the robber and a possible accomplice who may have been driving a getaway vehicle.
Some parents of students in California and Brownsville took to social media to complain they were not immediately notified of the lockdown. They received notification several hours after the robbery that occurred just after 8 a.m. California’s superintendent, Brian R. Jackson, did not respond to a message left at his office about noon Tuesday.
State police Trooper Thomas Hartley said a white man wearing a brown or greenish hooded jacket and blue jeans entered the store and brandished a gun at the employee. The robber, who also wore a mask, then reached over the counter, grabbed money and ran from the store.
“Our police K-9 tracked the scent to a wooded area before losing the scent,” Hartley said.
Police are investigating whether a newer-model white Ford Explorer with a sunroof that was seen in the area served as a getaway vehicle.
“Based on the time, we are looking at it as a possibility,” Hartley said, “But we have nothing definitive yet to confirm it or rule it out.”
Sgt. Norman Howard of West Brownsville police said the robbery happened so fast customers did not know it happened. Police are reviewing video surveillance footage.
Police said the robber was about 5-foot-6 and 140 pounds. The driver of the Explorer was white and wearing a green-hooded sweatshirt.
Wal-Mart is doing whatever it can to assist police in the investigation, Elizabeth Harden, company spokeswoman at corporate headquarters in Bentonville, Ark., said Tuesday.
“Safety of our associates is our top priority. We are relieved everyone is OK,” Harden said. “We appreciate the quick response by police. We are doing whatever we can to help them make an arrest, including providing surveillance video.”
Anyone with information is asked to call state police in Belle Vernon at 724-929-8282.