Mobile police are asking for the public’s help identifying two men who robbed a stranger at gunpoint near Williamson High School earlier this week.
According to the Mobile Police Department, officers were called to the 1600 block of Midway Avenue around 9:30 p.m. Tuesday after a man reported that two armed strangers had approached him and demanded his belongings. The suspects fled the area before officers arrived, and the victim was not physically harmed during the encounter.
Police spokesman Officer Terence Perkins said the two suspects were described as Black men in their late teens to early twenties who were both dressed in dark clothing at the time of the robbery. Investigators have not released additional details about what, if anything, was taken from the victim, and no arrests had been announced as of the most recent update from police.
The stretch of Midway Avenue near Williamson High School sits in a residential section of Mobile that has, like many neighborhoods across the city, periodically dealt with street-level robberies and other property crimes. Because the incident happened after dark and involved two suspects working together, investigators are treating it as part of the broader pattern of nighttime armed robberies that Mobile police periodically warn residents about, urging people to stay alert when walking alone in the evening hours and to avoid displaying valuables in public.
Anyone with information about the robbery or the identities of the two suspects is asked to contact the Mobile Police Department at 251-208-7211. Tips can often be provided anonymously, and police have said that even small details — a partial description, a vehicle seen in the area, or unusual activity around the time of the robbery — can help investigators build a case.
Armed robbery cases involving unidentified suspects can be difficult to close without public tips, particularly when a victim is approached suddenly by strangers who flee quickly after the crime. Police departments across Mobile County routinely rely on community members coming forward with information to move these types of cases forward, especially in cases where surveillance footage is unavailable or inconclusive.
As is standard practice, the Mobile Police Department has not released the identity of the victim, who was not injured during the confrontation. Residents in the area around Williamson High School are encouraged to report any suspicious activity to police promptly rather than waiting to see whether a pattern develops.