Police arrest gunman who held up Keene State College student

By Michael Levenson, Globe Staff

Police on Saturday afternoon arrested a gunman who was wearing an old-style Boston Bruins goalie’s mask when he robbed a Keene State College student shortly after midnight, prompting the campus to go on lockdown for five hours.

Police said they charged Justin Robinson, 22, of Keene, N.H., with one count of armed robbery and one count of reckless conduct. Police said Robinson is not a student at Keene State, a small liberal arts college.

Authorities said the incident began just after 1 a.m. when a fight broke out at an off-campus house on Winchester Street and Robinson pulled out a black handgun.

He then fled on to the Keene State campus, wearing blue jeans, no shirt, and the hockey mask. He stopped a student who was walking with several friends and allegedly robbed one of them of a sweatshirt.

No shots were fired and no one was injured.

The college sent emails and text messages to students asking them to remain in their residence halls or in another safe place. At about 5:30 a.m., the college ended the lockdown.

Thompson does not live in the house where the fight broke out, according to Mace Hemphill, who co-owns the home.

Hemphill said she rented it last month to three brothers and their cousin, none of whom are Keene State students. She said there have been no problems since the foursome moved in on Oct. 15.

“They seem like nice kids,” she said.

Levenson can be reached at mlevenson@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @mlevenson.