Cox Communications evacuated after apparent robbery attempt

Friday, Oct. 1, 1999 | 11:33 a.m.

Metro Police evacuated 50 employees from the Cox Communications headquarters this morning after a man with a gun entered the building at Martin Luther King Boulevard near Bonanza Road and disappeared down a hallway.

Police spokesman Steve Meriwether said a black male about 25 years old walked into the cable television company's building at about 6:41 a.m. in an apparent robbery attempt.

Cox spokesman Steven Shorr said cash is kept at the headquarters because of transactions with the public.

Shorr said about 700 people work in the building, but only about 50 were in the building early this morning.

"All of the employees we know were in the building at the time of the incident have been taken out, Schorr said. "They are safe. There have been no injuries."

The employees stayed in a secure area after the gunman disappeared, Schorr said, and remained there until police arrived and moved them out of the building.

SWAT team officers entered the building sometime after 9:30 a.m. to begin searching for the suspect.

At 10 a.m., Meriwether said it had not been determined if the man was still inside.

Police had several blocks in the area roped off, forcing such nearby businesses as Costco and Walker Furniture to shut down.

Cox spokeswoman Stephanie Stallworth said cable television installations and other routine business would be disrupted today because of the incident.

One employee, Juliana Zaremba, said many employees were not at work because the company was having a breakfast celebration at a new building Cox bought at Rancho Drive and Bonanza Road.

She said she was not in the building when the apparent robbery attempt took place.

Zaremba said there are a lot of unarmed security guards at the headquarters and, she said it is impossible to enter the building at that hour of the morning without a key-badge or without being let in.

"I'm shocked, I'm upset," Zaremba said. "I need to go to work. I've got a lot of work to do."