Suspect in Monmouth University gun scare identified as football player

Wednesday, November 2, 2016
WEST LONG BRANCH, New Jersey (WABC) -- The suspect in an attempted armed robbery at Monmouth University has been identified as a football player at the college.

Keith Williams is being charged with first-degree armed robbery. He's being held on $100,000 bail, with no 10 percent.
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Williams, 18, is from Baltimore, Maryland.

Shortly after 9 p.m. Tuesday night, police say he approached two female students on campus and demanded their cell phones.

He was wearing a mask and dark clothing.

When the students refused, he pulled out what appeared to be a handgun and again demanded their cell phones, authorities say.



The students ran away to a safe location and the suspect fled with nothing.
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The students notified campus police and local authorities were then notified.

The university was back to normal Wednesday morning following the reports of someone with a gun on campus that prompted a lockdown as a precaution for the safety of the students.

The two students were approached in an on-campus underpass referred to as the tunnel, an underpass for students so they don't have to cross the street.

Students were told to shelter-in-place while police gathered evidence. The university sent a message to students via social media and reverse calls on Tuesday night.


Williams was apprehended by police in a campus dorm around 10:30 p.m. Tuesday.
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The school tweeted overnight that the weapon had been recovered and the lockdown lifted.



The weapon wound up being an imitation gun but it closely resembled an actual semi-automatic handgun.

No one was injured.
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