A 25-year-old man was arrested Wednesday afternoon after Baltimore County police say he tried to rob a Toys "R" Us in Towson with a gun, causing many shoppers and some employees to flee while a few others hid inside.
No one was injured in the incident at the popular Towson Place shopping center, though two people were taken to the hospital complaining of "stress," Police Chief Jim Johnson said.
Officers were called to the store in the 1200 block of Putty Hill Ave. at 1:41 p.m. for a report of an armed robbery, police said.
"He was going from register to register, when one or more managers detected what was unfolding," Johnson said.
When the first officers arrived, the man tried to hide inside the store, he said. Within minutes, more than a dozen officers had surrounded the store.
"He was jumping around inside the building," Johnson said. "He obviously couldn't decide what to do."
A tactical team found the man in about 15 minutes, Johnson said.
Police said they did not know how many people were inside the Toys "R" Us at the time of the robbery. Many managed to leave the store, while the few that remained inside were not held hostage, police said.
The stores adjacent to the Toys "R" Us in the shopping center were closed as a precaution during the incident. The parking lots around the store were largely empty early Wednesday evening as some retailers remained closed and investigators went in and out of Toys "R" Us.
Across the street, Calvert Hall College High School was locked down at about 2 p.m., a school spokesman said. Many students were already gone for the day, though, as the private Catholic school is on an exam week schedule.
Stretches of Prince and Joppa roads were closed as the robbery was investigated but later reopened.
Baltimore County schools, which closed an hour early because of snow Wednesday afternoon, were not in session during the incident.
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