Suspect in 2 bank hits is indicted|[05/12/07]
Published 12:00 am Saturday, May 12, 2007
The Jackson man accused of robbing two Vicksburg banks on the same day more than four months ago and arraigned Friday after his indictment by the Warren County Grand Jury is a former mental patient who bought a gun and gambled at a casino between the robberies, records show.
Levi A. Scott, 25, 325 Spanish Court, was picked up by agents of the FBI, Mississippi Department of Public Safety and Hinds County Sheriff’s Department four days after the robberies on Jan. 5 of the main branch of BancorpSouth, 820 South St., at 11:37 a.m., and AmSouth, 825 Crawford St., at 1:17 p.m.
On Friday night, he remained in the Warren County Jail without bond.
According to Vicksburg Police records filed with the Warren County District Attorney’s Office, Scott admitted to hitting both banks. He told police he purchased a 9mm handgun from Top Dollar Pawn and Gun, 3421 Washington St., after taking $1,500 from BancorpSouth.
In that robbery, witnesses said the suspect passed a teller a note demanding money. They reported the robber appeared to be holding a pistol under his shirt, but did not see one.
With the money taken from BancorpSouth, according to records, Scott purchased the gun for $650.
Then “he went to the casino where he lost the remainder of the money playing blackjack, returned to the area of the first robbery where he saw police, and decided to rob (AmSouth) with the handgun.”
Lt. Billy Brown, the Vicksburg Police Department detective handling the case, said Friday he did not know if Scott entered Ameristar, 4146 Washington St., with the 9mm.
And although Scott admitted himself into the Mississippi State Hospital twice for schizophrenia – on July 19, 2001, and on July 31, 2003 – he was not prevented from acquiring a firearm, Brown said.
“In Mississippi, nothing about (a mental evaluation) is going to show up on any background check, unless ordered by a court,” Brown said.
Brown said federal law does not require waiting periods for gun purchasers.
“When you buy a gun, they do an immediate background check on you,” he said. “There is no waiting period anymore.”
Gun dealers use the FBI’s National Instant Check Center to run background checks on applicants, Capt. Mark Culbertson of the Vicksburg Police Department said.
BancorpSouth is two blocks from the U.S. Post Office and Courthouse and AmSouth is just across Crawford Street. They are also within a block of City Hall and within two blocks of the Vicksburg Police Department.
The bank holdups were the first in Vicksburg since March 2004 and may have been the first multiple holdups in one day in local history.
Witnesses at both banks said the suspect was wearing a black, hooded sweatshirt with the lettering “FUBU 05” on the back, a brown baseball cap and black pants.
Police said bank security camera images released to the press played a key role in Scott’s arrest.
While reports differed on what the suspect was driving at the time of the robberies, police late that day were saying it appeared to be a gold General Motors vehicle, possibly a Pontiac. The earliest reports were that he was driving a maroon Pontiac. When Scott was arrested, police seized a red 1994 Pontiac Grand Prix.
Because deposits are federally insured, bank robbery is a federal and a state crime.
Scott’s case brings to mind the case of Seung-Hui Cho, the 23-year-old student who on April 16 killed 32 people at Virginia Tech University before committing suicide. Cho, who had been ordered by a court to have mental health treatment, is believed to have purchased at least some of his weapons through the Internet.
Also, like Scott had time between the two robberies, Cho spent some hours alone between the two attacks on students – in a dormitory and in a classroom building.