2 Centennial High School Students Robbed At Gunpoint On Way Home From Class: Report

HOWARD COUNTY, MD — Two Centennial High School students reported being robbed at gunpoint in two separate incidents while walking home from school last week.

The first robbery was reported at around 3 p.m. in the 9700 block of Riverside Circle in Ellicott City. A boy said two people with their faces covered threatened him with a gun, took his cell phone, then ran off, police told the The Baltimore Banner. At 3:05 p.m., another boy said two people with their faces covered used a handgun to rob him in the 9800 block of Gwynn Park Drive in Ellicott City.

The boys were not together, Howard County Police Department Public Information Officer Seth Hoffman said in an email to the Howard County Times. The robberies did happen in close proximity to each other within a short timeframe.

No injuries were reported in either incident, according to police. But officers said the two incidents likely are related and might be connected to an attempted carjacking that happened earlier that afternoon in the 10300 block of College Square.

Centennial High School Principal Joelle Miller wrote in an email to families last week that students are encouraged to walk with a buddy or in a group, go straight home and check in with an adult once home, use well-traveled streets, do not take shortcuts through areas with reduced visibility, do not talk to strangers, avoid anything that makes them feel unsafe, and run and yell loudly for help if they think they are being followed, the Howard County Times reported.