Robber that locked schools still on the lam

WASILLA — As of Thursday afternoon, troopers were still looking for the armed robber who caused a lockdown of area schools.

Troopers Spokeswoman Megan Peters said that on Wednesday morning the man, dressed in a black mask and camouflage clothing, kicked in the door of a coffee stand near the intersection of Bogard and Trunk Roads.

“I have not received any information that we have located the individual,” Peters said Thursday. “We identified a potential witness who gave us some information and we don’t know if it’s accurate but we’re looking into it,” she added.

She said that troopers informed the school district as a precaution.

Acting on that information, school district spokeswoman Catherine Esary said, the principals of Colony Middle, Colony High and Pioneer Peek Elementary schools all decided to go into lockdown.

Esary said that lockdown did not disrupt school activities.

“Classes continued. Kids were moving about the building freely,” Esary said.

The lockdown was aimed more at keeping people from entering the school and ratcheting up staff members’ awareness of their surroundings.

The school district also put out word to parents via ConnectEd, a system the district uses to send automated e-mails and phone calls. The messages informed parents of the situation. A fourth school, Finger Lake Elementary, also sent out a message but, as far as Esary knew, did not go into lockdown.

“It’s procedure, if there is known risk then we notify the principals and then at their discretion the principals decided to send out the ConnectEd messages,” Esary said.

Contact Andrew Wellner at andrew.wellner@frontiersman.com or 352-2270.