Local & State Headlines

Robbery causes school lockdown

• James Thrower told police he was robbed at knife-point.

J.D. Sumner

ALBANY — Three Albany-area schools were locked down after a man was robbed at knife-point just blocks away, school and police officials said.

According to Albany Police Department reports, 57-year- old James Thrower of Enterprise, Ala., told police that he was walking outside of his room at Relax Inn on the 300 block of Tallulah Drive when an unknown man approached him.

The reports say that Thrower thought the man was walking to motel office nearby, but when he passed by him, he said something and then grabbed Thrower’s left arm and pulled a knife.

Threatening to stab him unless he gave up all of his money, Thrower told police that he gave the man $120 and watched as he fled the scene, reports show.

Once receiving the call, Albany Police officers notified the Dougherty County School system that a suspect in a robbery was in the vicinity of three schools — Turner Elementary, Dougherty Middle School and Dougherty High School — and those schools were promptly put on alert.

“We just took the precautions to make sure that the students and staff were safe,” DCSS Public Information Director Brenda Horton said. “Once we were made aware of a potential threat, we just spread the word.”

The suspect was described by Thrower as a black male, about 6 feet or 6-2, wearing a skull cap and jacket. He was last seen running north from the motel.

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