FARGO - Police looking for three suspects who robbed a south Fargo Stop-N-Go store this morning also are investigating whether a bomb threat called in shortly before the robbery may have been a diversion.
Lt. Joel Vettel said three male suspects, one of them carrying a long gun, entered the Stop-N-Go store at 602 23rd St. S. at about 6:10 a.m. and demanded money. The female clerk assisted the suspects, who tried to get money out of several drawers, Vettel said.
The suspects left the store when they apparently were startled by someone entering the store or parking lot, he said.
Police are investigating whether the suspects left on foot or by car, Vettel said.
A witness who declined to give his name told reporters he had stopped at the store to get groceries and was walking back to his apartment when he saw a car parked behind the store with three males inside. One of the men got out and went around to the front of the store, he said.
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A K-9 unit attempted to track the suspects, but the dog stopped after leading its handler behind the store, Vettel said.
Police are reviewing video surveillance tapes to determine if the suspects took anything from the store, he said.
All three suspects had their faces covered with a variety of clothing, Vettel said. One suspect was described as wearing a black hoodie, jeans and a white shirt; the second was wearing a green coat with stripes on the shoulders; and the third had on a blue hoodie, black gloves and black jeans, he said.
Vettel said police are investigating whether the robbery may be related to a string of recent armed robberies in the Fargo-Moorhead area.
They're also looking into whether someone may have tried to create a diversion by calling police at 5:19 a.m. about a bomb threat at McKinley Elementary in north Fargo. The call was made from a pay phone at the Kum & Go store at 2237 13th Ave. S. - about six blocks south of the Stop-N-Go that was robbed less than an hour later - and had "a number of officers tied up," Vettel said. Police were pulling fingerprints from the pay phone, he said.
"That's something we'll determine through our investigation, whether they're related," he said.
School officials said McKinley opened as normal this morning.
Frank Morrow, who runs a 24-hour day care with his girlfriend about a block north of the Stop-N-Go, said this is the second time this year they've had to lock down the center because of a robbery. On the previous occasion, the suspects were tracked back to the neighborhood, he said.
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"As as soon as we saw the squad cars, it was like, 'click,' lock it down," he said as he stood on the corner of 23rd Street and Sixth Avenue South this morning, waiting to speak with police.
