Except for a few who may have witnessed the robber's escape on foot knowledge of the robbery generally came via social media.
“I learned about the robbery off Facebook,” said Sherman.
But once the Oxford community knew a man armed with a hand gun had entered the Emerald Bank, forced the two tellers to lie down on the floor and robbed it, residents reacted quickly.
“You know, lock your doors, lock up your houses, lock up your businesses,” said Sherman. “So pretty much it's mass hysteria around here. Everybody's locking down.”
Meanwhile officers searched up and down the city streets.
“911 has been swamped with leads,” said the Oxford Police Chief, Kirk Ives.
They were following up on leads with the assistance of five different law enforcement agencies, Cowley County Sheriff’s Department, Sumner County Sheriff’s Department, Winfield and Belle Plaine Police Departments, as well as the FBI.
Officers even brought in a tracking unit out of Cowley County which followed the robbers all the way down Main Street, from the bank to Cave Park. At one point armed officers were stopping all vehicles trying to cross the bridge by the park. But there was still no suspect to be found.
The possibility of a bank robbery in this small town is something the oxford police chief has been aware of since day one.
“When I came here, I met with both banks and talked about things like this,” said Ives. “I described to them different things that they needed to do to be prepared for situations like this.”
Unfortunately, being prepared didn't prevent Thursday's events. The good news? No one was hurt, just an undetermined amount of money stolen.
Police say the bank robber was wearing a dark blue hoodie, green camo pants, and a black ski mask. Anyone with information should contact Oxford Police or the FBI.
Bank robbed in Oxford, Kansas.
