When Wells Fargo employees entered work on the morning of November 13th, they expected to be staring at loan requests–not down the barrel of a handgun.

The suspect, a long-term Great Falls resident, was taken into custody by police after he fled the scene using a stolen SUV. Police reports indicate the white Lexus was carjacked from a woman in the parking lot of the bank.

Great Falls was soon under the watchful eye of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI); an event seldom seen by a town that experiences 82% less crime than most US cities.

“The FBI gets called in for every bank robbery, and the reason they do is because every bank is federally insured,” Langley SRO Officer John Morris said.

Multiple students witnessed the FBI and SWAT teams breaching locations throughout Great Falls, including sophomore Tommy Zavrel whose backyard was searched by law enforcement.

“They didn’t come in our house, [but] they went in our shed and around our yard,” he said.

Despite some students feeling nervous after the events, sophomore Juan Pablo Diaz shrugs off the robbery and chooses to prioritize facts and logic. “This continues to be one of the safest places in America, and our police force responded amazingly,” he said.

For Langley students with siblings at GFES, however, the fear was much more prevalent.

“You have to put yourself in their shoes and imagine how scary it would be to go into lockdown in an environment you once felt safe in,” sophomore Ana El-Bogadi said. “I can’t imagine what it was like for my sister considering they weren’t informed on what the lockdown was about until after the robbery occurred.”

The owner of the Wells Fargo bank declined to comment.

The following is the real-time report of the robbery in progress over the Fairfax Police Department scanner:

“Attention for a robbery in area 501. A robbery just occurred at Wells Fargo bank on 750 Walker Road. They said that someone was trying to rob them. […] Subject does not know the caller is calling us. He’s attempting to rob them, they’re not sure of any weapons. […] The subject does not know the caller is calling for police. Subject is still in the bank. […] There is no description at this time. We’re about two minutes out. Subject is wearing a mask, we’re still trying to get clothing description. […] Another call about the robbery, the complainant is hiding, we just got another call, it’s in progress and they hung up. […] Complainant says the subject is in a white mask, is hiding in the bank, and is attempting to rob them. […] Helicopter en route. Subject is now coming back to the building. […] He left the building, beige mask, beige jacket, black pants, white sneakers. […] He stole an SUV, a Lexus white SUV. […] There was a female who had a white SUV that was stolen from the bank. Last direction of travel is on Georgetown Pike.”