An armed man wearing a Scream mask walked into a Circle K gas station on East Franklin Street just before noon Wednesday, displayed a gun and fled, sending two nearby schools into a precautionary lockdown that lasted about 90 minutes. No injuries were reported, and Chapel Hill police were still searching for the suspect as of Wednesday afternoon.
According to The News & Observer, the robbery happened at the Circle K located at East Franklin Street and Estes Drive. The suspect was described as wearing a black hoodie, gray pants and the Scream mask, and police said he displayed a firearm during the encounter. The outlet reported that whether the suspect got away with any cash was not disclosed.
Estes Hills Elementary School and Phillips Middle School, both about a mile away on North Estes Drive, entered secure mode shortly after the robbery was reported. Secure mode requires students to stay inside the building while allowing teachers to keep teaching, and the report notes the schools remained under that status for roughly 90 minutes before it was lifted by 1:30 p.m. Wednesday.
Police Warn of Continued Presence Near the Scene
Chapel Hill police said residents might notice an increased law enforcement presence in the area as the investigation continues, per the same report. No further details on the suspect's identity or whereabouts were released as of Wednesday afternoon.
Anyone who witnessed the robbery or has information is asked to call 911 or the Chapel Hill Police Department at 919-968-2760, which takes calls from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. Those wishing to remain anonymous can contact Chapel Hill-Carrboro-UNC CrimeStoppers at 919-942-7515.
A Pattern of Armed Robberies Near Campus
Wednesday's robbery adds to a string of gun-involved incidents that have rattled the area around UNC-Chapel Hill in recent years, though nothing in the available reporting ties this case to those earlier ones. In May 2022, campus alerts from Alert Carolina described police investigating two armed robberies reported the same Wednesday night, one at Rosemary Street and Pritchard Avenue around 9:30 p.m. and another at Church Street and Clark Court about 15 minutes later. Each of those robberies involved two suspects and a displayed gun, and no injuries were reported in either case.
More recently, WRAL reported on an armed carjacking near the North Estes Drive intersection around 2:25 a.m. on a Saturday, in which three men forcibly took a vehicle at gunpoint. Police said at the time that the carjacking was linked to a separate armed robbery that had occurred the previous Thursday night, and no injuries were reported in that incident either.
