Duke Police continue to look for suspect in Central Campus armed robbery

Duke University Police Department is continuing to search for leads in Wednesday's armed robbery on Central Campus.

The department is coordinating with outside law enforcement and has been pursuing a number of leads, DUPD Chief John Dailey said. The incident occurred just after midnight Wednesday morning, when a student was stopped at the corner of Anderson and Lewis Streets by a man with a handgun who demanded her purse. He fled the scene in a gray car. No injuries were reported in the incident.

"This is our top priority," Dailey said of the investigation.

Dailey noted that the department is currently working with a sketch artist to produce an image of the suspect, who was described in a Duke News release as a man of "medium complexion." A sketch should be produced by early next week.

The suspect— who approached the student across the street from the Food Factory and Central Campus field was about 6'4'' and 250 pounds with dark hair, wearing a white sweatshirt and dark jeans, according to the release.

Anyone with any information is encouraged to come forward to DUPD, Dailey said.

The incident resulted in the first DukeAlert of 2015. It was the first armed robbery that Duke has seen in "well over a year," Dailey said. The last time a Duke Alert was sent for an armed robbery on campus was July 2013, when two armed robberies were reported in the Duke Gardens in the span of two weeks.

Dailey attributed the lack of robberies in the past year to a number of investments the University has made in security measures over the past 18 months—including a brighter streetlights and an increase in security staffing, in addition to replacing all locks on Central Campus apartment doors.