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Police prepare to take an unidentified woman who witnessed the Regions Bank being robbed for a statement on Friday, March 7, 2008. (Jon-Michael St. Amant/Pacer Photos)

Police on Friday released a photo taken from the Regions Bank security camera tape showing a man brandishing a pistol and wearing a gray wig. Police and the FBI were still looking for the man, who stole his getaway car from Middle Tennessee. (Martin Police Department)

UT Martin cancels lockdown, gunman still at large

Bank robber's abandoned car found on campus

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Posted: 3/4/08

9th update, RECASTS, UPDATES with details, ADDS suspect photo. Should stand.

Students, faculty and staff were ordered to stay inside with doors locked for over an hour on Friday while police searched for an armed man suspected of robbing a nearby bank.

The suspect, armed with a pistol and wearing a wig, robbed a Regions Bank branch about a mile from campus, police said.

The late-model tan Jeep Cherokee he fled in, which was reported stolen from Benton County in Middle Tennessee, was found in a campus parking lot near the Cooper Hall dormitory about 45 minutes after the robbery.

The suspect is still being sought by police and the FBI.

The university's public safety department sent out e-mails and text messages to the school's voluntary emergency alert system shortly after 1 p.m., university spokesman Bud Grimes said, though several students did not receive the alerts until hours later, after the lockdown was lifted.

Police cleared the 7,100-student campus by 2:20 p.m. and normal operations resumed, he said.

Classes resumed on Friday, though attendance was lower than usual because the school's spring break begins next week and there was the threat of heavy snow in West Tennessee.

Tim Allen, a 21-year-old senior, lives in Cooper Hall near where the suspect's car was found. He said he was told of the alert by a friend and then resident assistants came down the halls telling students to stay in their rooms.

"I'm not that worried about it," he said before the lockdown was lifted.

Allen's roommate, Michael Kimbrough, said he was off campus when he received the text alert, but then came back to campus anyway. He said he passed by the bank that was robbed and saw several police cruisers on his way back to campus.

"Obviously whenever you hear the word 'lockdown,' it makes you think of Virginia Tech and everything, but this seems like a different situation," Kimbrough said. "At least it's not a student who has a problem with people, this is just a guy who robbed a bank. I think his motives are going to be different. He's probably not on a rampage killing people. He's probably just trying to get away."

University spokesman Bud Grimes confirmed to The Pacer that there had been a problem with the voluntary text-message alert system.

The incident marked the first time the university used the emergency text system for a security alert, Grimes said. The message was sent twice after it appeared some students did not receive the first alert, and officials were checking for any problems with the system.

Some students did not receive the "all clear" text alert until after 6 p.m. — nearly four hours after it was sent.

It is tested once a semester and about 2,600 faculty, staff and students are enrolled. It has twice been used to warn the campus of weather emergencies, both times of which the alerts were received properly.

A phone call to Regions Bank confirmed that no injuries occurred during the robbery.

Martin Police released a photo of the suspect taken from the bank's security camera tape with hopes that the public will be able to identify the man.

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Matt Cook, Jon-Michael St. Amant and Will York reported for this story.

Continue to follow The Pacer Web site for more details as they become available.