Newswriting Crime Story Sample

The Auburn police department reported an armed robbery felony at the Circle-K gas station on Glenn Avenue Thursday night at 9:40 p.m.

Police are looking for a male suspect approximately 25 years old and six feet tall. The police report described the suspect as wearing a Halloween mask, an Auburn sweatshirt and black jeans.

Police last saw the suspect running toward the Auburn University campus waving a gun. Auburn University sent out an AU Alert at 10:30 p.m. notifying students that a crime had occurred off campus and to stay alert as the suspect might be “armed and dangerous.”

Sadie Jones, 69, was a witness to the robbery. She said, “He was flat out crazy, waving a gun and screaming ‘Beat Ole Miss’”. She added, “I was scared to death and hid in the beer cooler.”

The clerk at the time of the robbery said, “I was cleaning up near the end of my shift, when he entered the store waving a gun. We only had one customer in the store. Most of our money was locked up, so I only gave him the $15 I had in the register, but he also took 25 cartons of cigarettes and some Halloween candy.”

William T. Bones, the officer listed on the police report, said, “We are actively seeking this suspect on or near the Auburn campus because he ran that way. We are reviewing film from the store to get a better description. Unfortunately, we are seeing more and more robberies like this.”

Bones added, “We usually see an uptick in crime on Halloween weekend. This is the type of scary we don’t need.”