A male undergraduate student was robbed at gunpoint and assaulted near East Campus around 1 a.m. Friday.
The student was walking back to his off-campus house from the Brightleaf Square area and talking on the phone when he was approached by two individuals near Watts Street and Gloria Avenue, according to a news release Friday.
The suspects pointed a gun at the student’s head and ordered him to get on the ground, the student said. They proceeded to seize his wallet and phone, hit him over the head with a glass bottle several times and kicked him.
The release Friday differed from the student’s account, as the release said no one was injured as of Sunday night.
“I was about one block down Watts Street,” the student said. “I noticed two individuals following me. I crossed the street. Then one of them ran up to me and pointed a silver revolver at my head and said, ‘get down on the ground now.’”
The Durham Police Department responded to the scene first and was joined soon after by the Duke University Police Department, Duke Police Chief John Dailey said. Durham Police will be the lead investigators going forward.
The suspects were both wearing black hooded sweatshirts and bandannas over their faces, the student said, adding that they were both black males who appeared to be around the age of 18. One suspect was about 5 feet, 8 inches tall and the other was about 5 feet, 11 inches tall.
The student said the armed suspect held the weapon in his left hand and wore a black and white polka-dotted bandanna.
He also noted that after the robbery, the suspects ran toward Main Street. The student, bleeding profusely from his head, proceeded to run back to his house where a friend notified police of the crime.
Faculty members have reached out to the student after the crime occurred, Vice President for Student Affairs Larry Moneta said.
Moneta said that precautions are being taken in order to prevent further crimes.
“There is much more visible and targeted patrol both on East Campus and the Trinity Park area by the Duke Police Department,” Dailey added. “We certainly have had some comments that people have noticed that. That’s the visible measure. We are also doing some things that we really can’t talk about.”
A similar robbery involving a student walking on East Campus took place Nov. 13.
Dailey notified the student body of Friday’s robbery in an email at approximately 3:30 a.m. Friday, and those who are subscribed to DukeALERT received a text as well. Moneta advised students to use automotive transportation at night, to travel with others and to stay alert and aware of their surroundings.
“I will not be walking at night anymore,” the student said.
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