A robber armed with a handgun stole black backpacks from two students at Foothill College’s footbridge near the Campus Center at around 9 a.m. Nov. 19.
“The person displayed a weapon,” said Kurt Hueg, Foothill College associate vice president of external relations, “either held it at the side or showed it in his belt.”
Nothing is known of the suspect except that he was described as an African American male, between the ages of 18 to 27, weighing about 160 pounds, with short hair and wearing a dark sweatshirt.
Santa Clara County Sheriff deputies and West Valley College officers were called over for investigation assistance.
However, a lockdown was not called because there were no immediate threats, according to FHDA police. The campus was notified system of the incident through the emergency notification.
“Either students got notified via text or we got notified on our computers, on our work phones, or on our cell phones,” said Donna Wolf, administrative assistant for extended opportunity program and services. “So that’s really good to know that it’s working.”
Some instructors in classes close to the site of the armed robbery, including Kerry Dileonardo, Foothill dance instructor, imposed their own lockdowns until the perceived threat of the armed robber settled.
No one was hurt, but some students felt put off by the lack of concern officials presented for student safety and expressed their opinions on social media sites.
Tenya Howland posted onto Facebook, “I’m good, just not going to campus today. So far the updates have been rather odd. If there’s an armed robbery on campus, that should mean immediate lockdown + tell students not to come to school. They haven’t locked the school down + they’re still telling students to come to school. Keep in mind suspect brought a GUN. And they still haven’t found him.”
Kristen Lohnes Johnson posted, “So please explain why they don’t lock down when this happens?”
Chris DiLeonardo, professor of geology and oceanography at De Anza College, posted, “It seemed as though the priority was the image of the college not really safety of students, staff, or faculty.”
Hueg said in situations like this, an amazing amount of misinformation starts flying around, “and that’s why it’s critical for people to pay attention to the actual announcements that come to them. And not what somebody is saying on Facebook.”
La Voz collected on storify.com tweets and Facebook posts about the incident. To view the compliation, go to bit.ly/Wl3qZp.
SCENE OF THE CRIME – Two students were robbed at gunpoint on the foot bridge. The suspect was seen running onto campus. (Saksham Rai/LA VOZ WEEKLY)
