Teacher robbed at gunpoint outside Evanston middle school

EVANSTON, Ill. - A teacher was robbed at gunpoint Thursday evening outside of Nichols Middle School in north suburban Evanston.

The 31-year-old man was near Lee Street and Elmwood Avenue when a male approached and grabbed him, showing a gun and saying, “Give me your wallet,” according to Evanston police Cmdr. Ryan Glew.

He took the man’s cellphone and wallet before putting his gun away, Glew said. He pulled out knife and asked for the phone’s passcode, which the man provided, and ran east on Lee and north on Sherman Avenue, Glew said.

He was described as a 16 to 19 year old male wearing a gray hooded sweatshirt and gray pants, Glew said. Police used an app to find the phone in the 800 block of Lee.

The man was a teacher at the school, and “while certainly upset by the situation, thankfully, they are okay,” Evanston/Skokie School District 65 officials said.

“EPD has informed us that they have assigned a ‘special watch’ to the area surrounding Nichols through the start of winter break,” officials said.