Vicksburg Police Department Patrolman Johnnie Edwards, left, and Sgt. Tom Wilson escort Christopher Watson from the Isle of Capri Casino Monday. The other officer is Sgt. Virgil Woodall.(Melanie Duncan Thortis The Vicksburg Post)

[7/29/03]It was business as usual at RiverHills Bank Monday about five hours after a Texas man walked into a branch here, gave a teller a note demanding cash and said he was carrying an explosive device.

We’re just thankful all the employees are safe and the suspect was apprehended,” said David Blackledge, vice president of the bank.

About an hour after the robbery at the 2125 N. Frontage Road branch, gaming officials found the suspect, Christopher S. Watson, 37, of Corsicana, Texas, dropping coins into a slot machine at the Isle of Capri Casino.

They called the Vicksburg Police Department who arrested Watson. Deborah Madden of the FBI office in Jackson said the suspect was turned over to them and he spent the night at the Madison County Detention Center. He is scheduled to make an initial appearance before a federal magistrate at 1 p.m. today where he will be informed of the federal bank robbery charges that have been filed against him.

After the robbery was reported to police about 11 a.m., police were searching for a red Nissan 300 ZX with Texas plates. Authorities found the car in the casino parking lot and waited for a surveillance camera to reveal whether he was in the casino or had fled the lot in another vehicle.

Agents with the Mississippi Gaming Commission were helping to comb the casino and first spotted the man exiting the restroom area, said John Gorman, the branch manager for the commission’s central district office.

Noticing a mark or tattoo of some sort on the man’s arm, agents approached the man and asked to see identification, Gorman said.

He reportedly told bank employees a package he left was an explosive device, prompting the Jackson Police Department bomb squad to respond and determine the package did not contain explosives.

Employees reopened the bank lobby at about 4 p.m. and the drive through windows were opened at 4:30 and closed at 5:30. Normal hours would resume today, Blackledge said. The bank, formerly the Port Gibson bank, opened in Vicksburg in February 1999.

The last bank robbery in Vicksburg was reported in April at Britton & Koontz First National Bank and the last time the RiverHills branch at Battlefield was robbed was in 2000. The armed bank robber three years ago also fled to a local casino where he was noticed by security.

Clayton Hastings, 54, of Satartia, was arrested playing slot machines at Ameristar. He is serving federal prison time in Minnesota.