Eleven Temple University students were woken by masked bandits at gunpoint Friday morning and forced into a basement after being robbed of debit and credit cards, cell phones and keys to a 2015 Lincoln MKZ, police said.
The incident occurred on the 1300 block of North 15th Street, an off-campus property, according to a statement from a university spokesperson.
“The most important thing is that no students were hurt or injured during this incident, which will continue to be investigated by the Philadelphia Police Department,” the statement said. “The safety of the Temple community remains the university’s top priority.”
Two male suspects entered a property about 6 a.m. where there were 11 occupants inside sleeping, Philadelphia police said in a Friday statement. All 11 occupants were students, police said.
NBC Philadelphia spoke to some of the female victims. The women said the armed men were looking for drugs but they didn't have any. The robbers went room to room waking up occupants, the news outlet reported.
The women said the suspects made each of them individually open up their phones and sign out of their iCloud and remove their passwords. The women used laptops to contact loved ones to call 911 after being locked in the basement. The suspects casually joked with each other after spending about an hour inside, NBC Philadelphia reported.
One of the victims called it a "violating experience" while speaking to reporters Friday outside the residence. “I don’t know how I’m going to be able to sleep here again,” another woman told NBC Philadelphia.
The armed suspects wore masks and black hoodies and gathered all of the occupants in the basement, police said.
The suspects, police said, fled in the stolen Lincoln. There have been no arrests.
The home was occupied by eight women and three men. They ranged in ages from 20 to 22 years old, police said.
The investigation is ongoing, police said.
The victims said they heard of a similar crimes happening to other students, according to NBC Philadelphia.
“You go to college, and it’s supposed to be a fun time when you can have fun with your friends and finally be away from home and have independence,” Nina, a senior, said. “Not only to have someone invade your home and your privacy, but to be woken up out of sleep ... that kind of taints things.”
