[UPDATE] Juvenile Arrested in Connection With Armed Robberies At Shreveport’s Centenary College

[UPDATE]  One person has been arrested in connection with last week's armed robberies on the Centenary College campus. 

College officials have sent an email out, saying a juvenile male matching the description given by students was arrested less than a mile from campus.

Centenary's Department of Public Safety and Shreveport police say the minor was in possession of some of the stolen items and was positively ID'ed by one of the students. Officers are working diligently to track down any others who might have been involved.

[ORIGINAL STORY]  It's been a couple of years since anything like this has happened at Centenary College...now, it's happend twice in a couple of days' time.  The college's Director of External Relations Matt Bailey confirms that two armed robberies have occurred on the campus.

In one incident, a student was robbed on the west side of Hamilton Hall in the arboretum.  In the other, three students were robbed at gunpoint near Riggs Plaza.  Centenary's Department of Public Safety is working with Shreveport police to investigate these, and catch whoever's responsible.  Fortunately, no students were injuried in either incident.

"Our public safety officers responded very quickly after being notified of each one of the incidents," Bailey says.  "As a matter of fact, I can tell you that our public safety officers actually interrupted and broke up the second incident, and actually got into a pursuit with the suspects."  But the suspects had such a head start that the officers couldn't catch up with them.

A campus-wide alert email was sent out to all faculty and students after the robberies.  "That's part of our policy, but it's also pursuant to a federal law, that any college or university that has a crime happen like this is required to send out immediate email alerts letting everybody in the community know what happened," Bailey says.

He stresses that student safety is a top priority for campus police.  Bailey says police visibility has been built up since these incidents, too. And recently, more outside lighting was added to several areas of the campus. 

What can students do to stay safe?  Bailey recommends traveling with a friend or in groups, to try to stay in well-lit areas, and let officers know if they see anything suspicious going on.  There are call boxes throughout campus that will ring directly to the Department of Public Safety office.

LISTEN TO MY INTERVIEW WITH MATT BAILEY HERE: