KPD Chief Rausch on the campus bank robbery
None
Photo by Michael Patrick // Buy this photo
The University of Tennessee Student Center was evacuated Tuesday, Aug. 27, 2013 after a bank robber left a package in the building. UT and KPD officers cleared the immediate area while unloading the bomb squad robot on Phillip Fulmer Way. (MICHAEL PATRICK/NEWS SENTINEL)
KNOXVILLE — The FBI has released a more detailed description and photos of the man who robbed the University of Tennessee Federal Credit Union on Tuesday morning.
The man was described as black, in his late 40s to early 50s, weighing 180 to 190 pounds and between 6 feet to 6 feet 2 inches tall, according to an FBI news release.
The FBI said the man wore white medical scrubs consisting of a short-sleeved shirt and long pants with a grey striped polo shirt underneath, a black baseball cap, a white 3M dust mask and one blue latex glove.
The Knoxville Police Department bomb squad responded to the University of Tennessee Carolyn P. Brown University Center after a man threatened he had a bomb and robbed the credit union inside the building.
A suspicious package was left during the robbery, according to UT spokeswoman Amy Blakely.
Surveillance camera footage of a man wanted by the FBI in connection with a robbery, bomb threat at UT's University Center on Tuesday, August 27, 2013.
“That’s how he did the robbery,” she said.
The student center was evacuated and the immediate area cleared while the bomb squad investigated the package. By 1:15 p.m. authorities were allowing students back into the center.
E-911 dispatchers said the man entered the business about 11:26 a.m., at 1502 Cumberland Ave., told employees he had a bomb and asked for cash — $100s, $50s, and $20s. The suspect then walked out.
A UT student working in the post office at the university center described seeing a man dressed all in white run out a door seconds after the nearby credit union was robbed.
Michael Turko, a senior majoring in architecture, said he was working at the post office. No one was at the counter when he saw a man in white wearing a surgical mask coming from the direction of the credit union run out a door.
“Right before he ran out the door, he said something about his allergies,” Turko said.
Photo by Michael Patrick // Buy this photo
The University of Tennessee Student Center was evacuated Tuesday, Aug. 27, 2013 after a bank robber left a package in the building. UT and KPD officers cleared the immediate area while unloading the bomb squad robot on Phillip Fulmer Way. (MICHAEL PATRICK/NEWS SENTINEL)
The student said he didn’t think anything about what he had seen until a campus alert gave the same description of the credit union robber as the man Turko saw run out the door.
“I didn’t see him carrying anything. He was running quick,” Turko said. “It was a blur.”
Anyone with information is asked to call the Knoxville FBI at 865-544-0751, the University of Tennessee Police Department at 865-974-3114 or the Knoxville Police Department at 865-215-7212.
More details as they develop online and in Wednesday’s News Sentinel.
Oscars 2014: Red carpet
Psychic Bobby Drinnon dies at age 61
TSSAA Championships: Mt. Juliet 65…
Scripps Interactive Newspapers Group
Comments » 12
vq4nfo writes:
Those dang medical students will do anything to graduate debit free!!
ccjensen writes:
Authorities have examined the package and confirmed it contained a real bomb...a copy of a Derrick Dooley game plan
knoxdad45 writes:
(This comment was removed by the site staff.)
NomDePlume (Inactive) writes:
They treat minorities with paternalistic kid gloves. It's insulting, but they don't want to offend other white people who might be offended on behalf of non-whites.
Classof81 writes:
Can I still comment? Testing, 1-2-3
NomDePlume (Inactive) writes:
Now that they've updated the story with a picture, I am HIGHLY offended.
NomDePlume (Inactive) writes:
"The man was described as black, in his late 40s to early 50s, weighing 180 to 190 pounds and between 6 feet to 6 feet 2 inches tall, according to an FBI news release."
Are we looking at the same picture? That guy appears to be in his late 20's to mid-30's. Now I really am offended (not really).
moonpie-ellie writes:
No, no you can't. Go back and try again and take your bomb bag with you. ;)
southernbelle79 writes:
It shouldn't take long with that picture to catch this man.
I do wonder what kind of nonsense was censored by KNS.
southernbelle79 writes:
Who is "they" and why are you insulted?
Sand_Pebble (Inactive) writes:
I wish the FBI didn’t give that picture to the citizens of Knox County. I feel terrible for all the people who study incredible hard, put in decades of schooling and paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to go to medical school to become surgeons, who happen to be black. Something tells me before the sun goes down on the 28th every African American surgeon in Knox County will need to go down town, give a statement and provide an alibi.
govols1961 writes:
That should only take about 5 minutes.
Want to participate in the conversation? Become a subscriber today. Subscribers can read and comment on any story, anytime. Non-subscribers will only be able to view comments on select stories.