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Updated: 7:46 PM Nov 30, 2008
Armed Robbery at Pullman Square Theater
A quiet night at the movies turned out to be anything but after a man with a gun held up the Marquee Cinemas last night at Pullman Square.
Posted: 11:05 PM Nov 29, 2008Reporter: Amanda Barren; Amanda Goodman Email Address: amanda.barren@wsaz.com; Amanda.Goodman@wsaz.com |
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85 Comments 
UPDATE: Saturday @ 6pm
By: Amanda Goodman
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. (WSAZ) -- A quiet night at the movies turned out to be anything but after a man with a gun held up the Marquee Cinemas last night at Pullman Square.
But if you weren’t by the concession stand, you probably had no idea what had just happened.
Katie McDonald was watching the new James Bond movie when the robbery took place, but was completely unaware
"We had no idea what was happening," said McDonald.
The feature presentations went on and no movies were stopped, even as police dogs searched theaters for a scent of the suspect.
Xnji Luther was in a theater the dogs searched, she too had no clue what was going on.
"The police officers didn’t say anything, they didn’t say excuse us we apologize, no one told anybody what was going on," Luther said.
By that time, McDonald said she was getting anxious.
"You could feel that something had happened and people hadn't forgotten about it but nobody was saying a word," McDonald said.
Outside of the theater, word spread that there was a gunman loose at Pullman Square. Huntington Police Chief Skip Holbrook says the theater was never on lock down, but they did lock down the parking garage for about a half hour, stranding drivers.
Chief Holbrook also says they specifically chose not to inform moviegoers about what was going on.
"It was quickly determined that he had exited the facility so there was nobody in imminent danger, so our first concern was of course to make an apprehension with him and secure the crime scene, that is why the decision was made not to interrupt the movies and create confusion and possibly scare people unnecessarily," he said.
But because there was no information, whispers, rumors, even text messages started spreading like a game of telephone, every story different than the next.
"We asked what was going on, it was very hush hush, they acted like they were offended that we asked them anything to begin with so we left the theater," Luther said.
Leaving behind what turned out to be a scary night at the movies that had nothing to do with what was on the screen.
UPDATE @ 12:53am
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. (WSAZ) -- Huntington Police Chief Skip Holbrook says the man who robbed the Marquee Cinemas got away with some cash.
Holbrook also released a description of the man: he is white in his 20s or 30s. He was wearing a brown hooded sweatshirt at the time of the robbery and had a white cloth or surgical mask across his face. He was wearing a pair of goggles over his eyes.
The man walked up to the concession stand inside the theater around 10:10 p.m. Saturday and demanded cash. He showed some kind of a small barrel rifle or shotgun. Chief Holbrook says it was altered in some way.
One witness who was inside the theater says she was enjoying the movie when all of the sudden she heard a dog barking.
"We thought it was someone's cell phone with a new ring tone or something, but they actually brought in the K-9 swooped around a couple of times," said Xnji Luther.
Chief Holbrook says they are still searching for the suspect.
ORIGINAL STORY
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. (WSAZ) -- Police in Huntington are on the scene of an armed robbery at the movie theater at Pullman Square.
It happened just before 10:10 p.m. Saturday night.
Police Chief Skip Holbrook tells WSAZ.com it happened at the Marquee Cinemas and Pullman Square is not under lockdown.
A woman who was in the parking garage at Pullman Square at the time of the robbery says it was a tense situation.
"When we came out of our movie theater, they had one movie theater on lockdown and wouldn't let anyone else [in]," said Natalie Hall of Milton.
Chief Holbrook says officers are investigating the crime, and does not believe anyone is in imminent danger.
WSAZ reporter Amanda Goodman is at Pullman Square and reports that a lot of people were there at the time of the robbery.
Keep clicking on WSAZ.com for more information.
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Latest Comments
Does anyone know if this person has been caught yet, or if there are any leads or anything?
Do they actually know the guy who did this... Have they named a suspect??
IM JUST GLAD NOBODY WAS HURT
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