Five armed robberies have taken place at the University of Minnesota since the beginning of the spring semester. The most recent incident occurred around 3:45 a.m. on Sunday, January 30th when a man reported that he was robbed by three men at gunpoint near 8th Street S.E. and 12th Avenue S.E. The three suspects took the victim’s wallet and fled. The specific descriptions of the assailants are not available as the University of Minnesota announced earlier last year that it will no longer use racial descriptions to identify suspects in school-issued crime alerts.
All previous incidents involved students who said they were robbed at gunpoint. The dates of the previous robberies are January 19th, January 20, January 21 and January 23. In these hold-ups, thieves have taken students’ cash, electronic goods and school identification.
According to Fox 9 News, University of Minnesota Vice President Pamela Wheelock announced that the school will use a new “Neighborhood Safety Notice” communications system to alert students of the recent crimes, using social media like the U of M Police Department Facebook page as a source of communication between students and police. The Neighborhood Safety Notice is designed to keep students in-the-know of criminal events around and near the campus.
Anyone with information about the recent incidents at the University of Minnesota is asked to call CrimeStoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477).
