Despite a campus wide safety alert and increased patrols in the Patterson Avenue area, another female University of Memphis student was held up near Smith Hall Thursday.
"We want students to be safe but not panic," said Bruce Harber, U of M public safety director. "It is just odd to have these crimes when we have gone years without anything on our property."
According to campus police, one suspect approached a female student in the parking lot directly across from Smith Hall on Patterson.
The suspect pointed a black handgun and demanded money from the woman, Harber said.
The robbery is the second armed attempt on a female student in the last week.
Memphis police issued a safety alert after a female student was held up at gunpoint between Smith and Rawls hall Wednesday night.
"Most of these incidents have occurred around Patterson and Midland Avenue area," Harber said. "Male students can be a target too, but a female student walking alone is an opportunistic target."
While the two incidents have occurred in similar areas, police believe they are two isolated events, Harber said.
"The suspects do not match," he said. "We are now looking for a dark completed man in his 30s with a black gun. The previous suspect was described as taller with a silver weapon."
Because of the recent robberies, campus police have increased their vigilance in the Patterson Avenue area.
Police will now post an officer from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. in the women's residence area.
Tiger Patrol will also station volunteers inside women's residence dorms and at the Carpenter Complex for safe escorts to campus.
Although the increase in police presence has centered on the women's residence halls, police do not believe female students have become a target for criminals, Harber said.
"I think that they are just targeting people alone at night," he said. "Any student should just be careful while walking alone in the evening."
While campus police believe the two robberies to be isolated incidents, there are several steps students can take to prevent robberies.
Know the locations of the campus emergency phones, inside and outside, and parking gate phones, which can be used for immediate contact with the University Police.
If you become a crime victim, remember that it is usually in your best interest to comply with the criminal's demands.
Prompt reporting to the police greatly increases the chances for solving a crime. Police response time to serious calls is usually 1-3 minutes. According to the victim in Thursday night's incident, The University Police arrived within two minutes.
Although the previous shotgun robberies off campus and the two robberies on Patterson Avenue have involved students, Harber said students are generally a bad target for criminals.
"When you look at crime theory, (students) don't fit the typical target," he said. "The case is that criminals demand valuables and many students just don't have any."
Police encourage any students who have information regarding the robberies to call campus police, or submit a silent witness report via the police services Web site.
"We are blessed that we don't have more violent crime on campus," Harber said. "I know (the robberies) will concern people, but we want students to feel safe."
