School and bank went on modified lockdown after armed robbery

Two schools, Grant Elementary and Douglass High School, were placed under a modified lockdown Wednesday after an armed robbery occurred outside Boone County National Bank.

That lockdown has now been lifted.

Columbia Police said a man was approached by two other men in the back parking lot of the bank. One of the two men was armed with a handgun and demanded money from the victim.

The victim ran inside the bank and yelled for employees to call police.

The suspects left the scene in a van.

No one was injured, but the bank was also placed on lockdown as a precaution for customers and employees.

“I have been at the bank for 23 years and I don’t really remember us ever having something quite like this. But you know our folks are trained to take the utmost precaution. In a situation like that we count on them to use their good judgement, and they used good judgement today to make sure everybody was safe.” said Mary Wilkerson with Boone County National Bank.

A modified lockdown at the schools means the outside doors are secured, and no one can enter without identification.

The suspects are described as two black men last seen wearing dark clothing.