Five Robberies On Marquette Campus
By Katie DeLong
Archived Content
MILWAUKEE - A safety scare for students at Marquette University. Five students robbed at gunpoint in just four days near the downtown campus.
Now the search is on for whoever is responsible for these robberies. In two cases students were robbed then beaten.
On Saturday morning a female student was robbed at gun point near 21st and Kilbourn. A few minutes later two male students were abducted and beaten during an armed robbery on N. 18th Street.
Police have arrested one suspect in those incidents and are search for a second suspect.
In an unrelated case, one student was robbed early Wednesday in the 600 block of N. 17th Street. A few minutes later the same armed suspect attempted to rob another student in the 500 block on N. 18th Street.
"It is a little scary,” Margaret Peterson said.
Peterson is a Marquette freshman. She knows one of the victims who was robbed at gunpoint on Saturday.
The robbers abducted the student and his friend, beat them, and drove them to several ATMs so they could empty their checking accounts.
"I think he was really shocked and upset by the whole thing and no one would have thought that was something that would have happened to a Marquette student,” Peterson said.
The students who were robbed Tuesday night weren't hurt, but TODAY’S TMJ4 wanted to know what Marquette Public Safety officers are doing to keep students safe.
TODAY’S TMJ4’s Heather Shannon: "Because of what happened last weekend and last night, are you taking steps to increase public safety here on the campus?"
"Absolutely. Immediately,” Marquette Public Safety Director Larry Rickard said.
Extra squads will patrol the campus area between 9:00 p.m. and 5:00 a.m.
Additional horse and motorcycle Milwaukee police officers will patrol the area, and students are encouraged to walk in groups, call the campus' 24 hour LIMO service for rides, and use the 200 blue light call boxes to report suspicious behavior.
The university posted information about the robberies on dorm doors everywhere. But junior Chris Byrne says he never noticed them.
"I've heard about stuff going on lately. I did not know someone was robbed right here in front of my apartment," Byrne said.
Despite the safety concerns, lots of students don’t seem to be changing their habits.
We found lots of students, like Lea Voigt walking alone.
"Are you concerned?" reporter Charles Benson asked her.
"A little bit," Voight said. "I was just thinking about it while walking through there."
A lot of students aren't scared. They say crime is just part of going to school on an urban campus.
"It seems like it's a typical thing. We've seen it before,” Erin Patrick said.
The investigation into the robberies is still on-going, but police don't believe Wednesday's robberies are connected to Saturday's.
All of the robberies happened well after midnight - a time when most students aren't on the streets.
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