Jackson police investigate armed robbery on Lane College campus

JACKSON, Tenn. — An armed robbery took place Sunday afternoon on the campus of Lane College. Students said it happened inside a dorm room. Jackson police released a description of their suspect Monday afternoon.

Students at Lane are being asked to be extra watchful after the dorm room robbery.

Police say they’re looking for a black man who is about five feet eight inches tall. Sunday, the suspect was wearing a black jogging suit with a yellow bandana over his face when a student said he robbed him.

“My best friend, he gets a call telling him that his cousin got robbed at gunpoint,” Juwaun Mister-Smith, a sophomore at Lane, said.

Mister-Smith described the victim as a man but wasn’t sure of his name. He said the armed robbery happened Sunday afternoon inside Graves Residence Hall.

“Everybody got messages saying that Graves is on lockdown. ‘Everybody go in your dorms. Stay in your dorms,'” Mister-Smith said.

The president’s chief of staff, Darlette Carver Samuels, said the suspect took some cash and personal items. She said incidents like this aren’t common on Lane’s campus.

“We’ve had incidents where there have been criminal activity around the campus but not a specific incident involving a room in the residence hall,” Samuels said.

The college’s homecoming celebration ended over the weekend, and Mister-Smith felt the robbery may have happened because so many people were out and about.

“This when a lot of students start to get their refund checks and stuff and they go buy new things for homecoming, and everybody knew it was going to be a whole lot of hostility during this time,” Mister-Smith said.

Lane College officials said they are working with the Jackson Police Department to get some answers so they can resolve this issue.

“And the college is conducting an internal investigation,” Samuels said. “But for the record, Lane College does not tolerate any acts of violence.”

Lane College has asked students to report any suspicious activity and as always watch their surroundings when they’re out.

Anyone with information regarding this crime is asked to contact the Jackson Police Department at 731-425-8400 or Crime Stoppers at 731-424-TIPS (8477).