USA robbery suspect's Montgomery neighbor shocked - WSFA.com: News Weather and Sports for Montgomery, AL.

USA robbery suspect's Montgomery neighbor shocked

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By Melissa McKinney - bio | email
The area of Norman Bridge Road where police say 19-year old Justin Sears lives. The area of Norman Bridge Road where police say 19-year old Justin Sears lives.

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MONTGOMERY, AL (WSFA) -

Marta Mass didn't know she lived across from the home where police say 19-year old Justin Sears lives on Norman Bridge Road.

"It does concern you when someone you knew could be involved lives right across the street from you," says Mass.

Police charged Sears with robbery and criminal trespassing after an alleged drug transaction turned into an armed robbery--with gunfire. It happened at the University of South Alabama.  Police say Sears ran into a college dorm to hide.

Police later caught him.

It makes Mass question campus safety.

"It makes you almost afraid to send your child, especially a daughter, off to school anywhere."

It's one reason her daughter Chelsea goes to college in Montgomery.

"You go to school to get a better education not to have to worry about getting a gun pulled out on you...or a knife," says Chelsea Joffrion.

Nearby neighbors say when they heard about the incident they had no idea one of the suspects lived on their street. Still, they say there's really no way to escape crime.

"Hearing someone that lives so close by on another college campus..it can happen to anyone," says Joffrion.

"I don't understand what motivates people towards that sort of behavior and to violence," adds Mass.

Sears is currently being held in the Mobile County Metro Jail.

Police are still searching for a second suspect in connection with the armed robbery.

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