Kelsey Latham – Special to the Southern News
Southern students were left on alert Halloween weekend after two students were robbed at gunpoint early Friday morning.
According to Southern Police there were two separate robberies that happened near Jess Dow football field. The first victim lost their wallet and backpack to the suspect while the second victim refused to hand over his cellphone. When the robber failed in his second attempt of robbery he fled the scene heading in the direction of West Campus.
Students were urged by campus safety to use extreme caution when returning to their residence halls. Students received an emergency email from the Southern Alert System around 12:55 a.m. informing student of the robberies with a detailed description of the suspect.
The news of an armed robbery on campus left students frightened, especially being so close to student housing.
“It was really scary because where the robberies happened is where a lot of people walk to class and sports and even parties at the townhouses which is what was happening Thursday night,” said senior Stephanie Rahm who lives in the town houses. “From what I’m hearing the guy held a gun up to a girl and if that were me in that situation, I don’t know what I would do.”
Senior Nicole Silva, who also lives nearby the scene of the robberies, said her usual walk from North Campus to the town houses is frightening to take alone.
“I work at Wintergreen so the walk from the town houses which goes right by where the robberies happened is hard for me to take by myself,” said Silva. “It’s definitely scary, it helps to have someone with me or sometimes I’ll just call my mom on the walk so that I’m talking to someone if something were to ever happen.”
Patrick Dilger from Public Affairs told students in a mass notification that Southern Police will increase patrols and visibility on campus during the following days and urges the Southern community to report any suspicious individuals or activity to University Police.
According to concealedcampus.org campus crime is less likely than national averages due to campus safety systems, but statistics show thousands of crimes take place on college campuses daily.
In 2001, 610 murders and 11,659 robberies were reported across college campuses in America. From 2005 and 2007 more than 100 murders took place, around 16,000 assaults and 10,000 forcible sexual assaults were reported on college campuses in the U.S. This amounted to an average of more than nine sexual assaults a day.
Numbers provided by the department of education showed that 36 percent of crimes were robbery on campuses in the U.S., 39 percent were assault and 25 percent were rape between 2005 and 2007.
Concealed campus said crime on campus cannot be predicted which is why students should be prepared to protect themselves at any given moment. Neither police, texts alerts or cameras can protect a student from an armed thug determined to take a person’s possessions by force.
The Southern Police Department offers suggestions on how to stay safe on campus and how to defend oneself against a robber or intruder. These safety tips can be found under University Police and campus safety on the Southern Website.
