Armored Van Stolen From Outside Troy Athens High School

TROY (WWJ) - Police are searching for the suspect who stole an armored van at gunpoint from outside a high school in Troy.

The incident happened around 9:25 a.m. Wednesday at the Troy Athens High School parking lot on John R Road just north of Wattles Road.

Troy Police Captain Robert Redmond said the armored van was making a scheduled stop at the high school when the situation unfolded.

"A black male wearing a black hoodie and a ski mask, rolled up on a bicycle and approached the armored car that was sitting in front of the school," Redmond told WWJ's Ron Dewey. "One of the drivers of the armored car got out, the black male pointed a gun at him and demanded the keys for the vehicle."

The suspect then fled the scene in the armored van, leaving his bike behind in the parking lot.

"The driver and the other guard in the van went into the school quickly to make a report and the school immediately went into lockdown," Redmond said.

Shortly after the theft was reported, police recovered the vehicle, sans money, at Troy International Church of God on Wattles Road near Rochester Road. Officers, however, found no sign of the suspect.

District administrators say the school building remains under a "code yellow" advisory, which is just short of a lockdown. No one is being allowed into or out of the school, administrators said, and classes are proceeding as normal.

Police are currently trying to locate the suspect, described as an African-American male wearing a ski mask and armed with a handgun.

Anyone with information is urged to contact police at 248-524-3477.

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