A single gunman held up two individuals at Foothill College campus Monday morning taking their backpacks, a Foothill spokesman said.
The rare daylight incident triggered the college's alert system, advising community members of the robbery. The campus was not on lockdown and classes were taking place as schedule, said Kurt Hueg, spokesman for the college.
One male displaying a gun robbed two males on the footbridge that spans the perimeter road and connects the gymnasium with the main campus, said Smith. The suspect was last seen running up from the footbridge onto campus.
"We don't know if was a real gun or not," said Kurt Hueg, spokesman for Foothill College. After police cleared the area roughly after 10:30 a.m., Hueg said, Police Chief Ronald Levine assessed the threat as minimal.
"It's a very strange crime," Hueg added, pointing out that the footbridge is a busy area at that time of day, and even though classes are winding down for the Thanksgiving break, students are busy taking tests.
The suspect displayed his weapon to his victims and did not point it at any time, Hueg said police told him. He did not have any information on the victims, and he added he assumed they were students, but did not know.
At the busy bus stop that is below the footbridge, student reaction ranged from quiet concern to nonchalance.
"There's no way I get scared of that," said Nicolas Ferro, 18. "I'm from Brazil. It's pretty common there.
"That guy is probably far away from here now."
The suspect was described as a black male adult, 18 to 25 years of age, 5 foot 7 inches tall, weighing 160 pounds, with close-cropped black hair. The suspect was reportedly wearing a black hoodie sweatshirt. No facial hair or jewelry seen. Stolen were two black backpacks.
Hueg said that Foothill-DeAnza Police Chief Ron Levine assessed the threat as minimal since the suspect would likely leave campus rather than risk being found by sticking around. Officers completed a search of campus at around 10:30 a.m., he said.
The police department sent out this tweet at 10:42 a.m., in a series of tweets about the robbery:
FHC ALERT: NO lockdown of campus is recommended. PD believes no current threat to campus. B aware of ur surroundings. Call 911 to rpt crimes
The police department advised the community to call 911 immediately if people spot something suspicious.
"I've been here since 1995, and I don't recollect an armed robbery on campus before," Hueg said. Police have arrested people with outstanding warrants who were carrying weapons at the time of arrest, but no direct crimes like Tuesday morning's incident.
The Foothill-DeAnza Police Department received assistance from an officer of West Valley Community College and the Santa Clara County Sheriff's Department.
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