Despite leaving a trail of evidence through the snow and having his image captured by a surveillance camera, an armed bank robber continued to elude police Wednesday night.

About 10 a.m. Wednesday, the stickup man entered University National Bank, 1400 Kasold Drive, and fired a shot toward the rear of the building, apparently to get employees to move quickly, police said. He got away with an undisclosed amount of money.

“As far as we know, he left on foot,” Sgt. Mark Warren said. “We don’t have any vehicle description.”

Investigators found footprints in a patch of snow that led them to believe the suspect ran east along the north edge of Orchard Corners shopping center. Though the stickup happened in a busy retail area and the robber fled through an apartment complex, it seemed few witnesses saw him make his getaway.

“I didn’t see a thing,” said Stephanie Baker, who works at a Yellow Book office in the shopping center and was sitting at her desk facing a window at the time of the robbery.

The man — described by police as a white male in his 20s, about 5 feet 9 inches tall, slender and wearing a multicolored stocking cap, a blue jacket and blue jeans — continued east and cut through two buildings at nearby Apple Lane Apartments, police believe.

Investigators found drops of dark-orange dye on snow in the complex’s parking lot, dye they think had been spilled from a device banks attach to cash to help identify robbers.

Maintenance workers shoveling snow at a rental property on nearby Applegate Court saw the man running down a hill toward them from Apple Lane Apartments, but when he saw them, he turned around.

Lawrence Police officers on the scene look over a surveillance photo of the man who fired a gun and robbed the University National Bank, 1400 Kasold Drive. No one was hurt in the robbery, which occurred at 9:57 a.m. Wednesday. As of late Wednesday, the suspect continued to elude police.

Then, they said, he disappeared.

Detectives spent the rest of the morning canvassing the area by knocking on doors and walking slowly through the wooded hillside where the men shoveling snow spotted the suspect.

Robert Rose, maintenance supervisor for Apple Lane Apartments, said officers had asked him not to remove snow from some areas as they tried to collect evidence. Rose, too, had been shoveling snow at the time of the robbery, but said he didn’t see anything unusual.

“I guess my back must have been turned at the time,” he said.

Lawrence Police have turned over the investigation to the FBI. Agency spokeswoman Bridget Patton said she had no indication the man was linked to any other area bank robberies.

6News video: Armed robber still being soughtUniversity National Bank

About 15 bank employees were in the building at the time of the robbery, but no customers were there, police said. Employees declined comment afterward.

“It’s obviously a very violent and aggressive person to do that,” Warren said of the man firing a gun in the bank lobby. “I’m sure it is very disturbing to them.”

Police asked anyone with information about the robbery to contact detectives at 830-7430 or call the Crime Stoppers hot line at 843-TIPS.

The surveillance photo image of the robbery suspect.