By John Howell
The Panola County Sheriff’s Department is looking for 50-year-old white male who is the suspect in an armed robbery attempt Tuesday in Pope.
Investigator Danny Beavers said that the victim picked the photo of Michael Scott Foster from Moreville in Lee County from a photo lineup.
Foster’s photo and other information have been listed with the National Crime Information Computer as being wanted for armed robbery, Beavers said. The listing warns other law enforcement agencies that he should be considered “armed and dangerous.
The sheriff’s department investigator said that the suspect had apparently cut his hair short in a buzz cut and removed his facial hair between the time of the photo and his robbery attempt in Pope.
The suspect walked into an unlocked back door at a home on Magnolia Street, surprising the victim and pointing a semi-automatic handgun at her. She would later describe him as a thin, white man with a buzz cut, wearing blue jeans and a tee shirt.
The victim “screamed and hollered,” Beavers said, unnerving her assailant, who ran out the door, between the old gin building and Post Office and then behind The Place restaurant.
“We figure he got into a vehicle and left,” Beavers said.
The Sheriff’s Department got the call about 1:28 p.m. Tuesday, the investigator said. He arrived about five minutes later and was soon joined by Sheriff Dennis Darby, other Panola deputies and Mississippi Highway Patrol troopers.
The robbery triggered a short lockdown at nearby Pope School, but by the time for school dismissal, officers had saturated the area and students were let out at their usual 3:10 p.m.
Foster is believed to be traveling in a 2006 red or maroon Toyota pickup, Beavers said.
He may be accompanied by Gary Mills, a half-brother or step-brother, the investigator said.
A person close to Mills said that the two men had been on drugs and “out on a binge.”
Beavers said that by mid-afternoon Thursday he had followed up on 20 calls in every area of the county from people who thought they might have spotted the suspect.
“That’s what we want people to do,” he said. “If you see something suspicious, call us.
The Panola County Sheriff’s Department can be reached in an emergency by dialing 911 or 563-6230.
(Emily Williams contributed to this story.)