(NewsGlobal.com)- Two masked men robbed eleven students from Temple University in their off-campus apartment in Philadelphia last Friday.
Police were called to the scene around 7:00 am Friday after two masked assailants entered an apartment on North 15th Street near Master Street and robbed the Temple students at around six in the morning. At least one of the suspects was armed.
Present in the apartment at the time were the six women who live there along with three of their boyfriends and two other female friends.
The students were reportedly asleep when the two assailants began pounding on the front door. One of the roommates reportedly opened the door, believing the two assailants knew someone inside the apartment.
According to the local Action News outlet, the assailants allegedly targeted the apartment after reportedly being told there were drugs and cash for them to steal.
The victims were forced to unlock their cell phones and disable the password protection before handing the phones over to the assailants.
CNN reported that the two masked men took the students down to the basement before the police arrived. Philadelphia police told CNN that one of the students was found tied up while the others were not.
The victims told NBC Philadelphia that they had heard of similar crimes happening to other students in the area.
Temple University spokeswoman Deirdre Childress Hopkins told CNN that none of the students were physically harmed.
Childress said the university was launching a program to help students find housing off-campus that “meets certain safety and security criteria.” She said the university’s top priority continues to be “the safety of the Temple community.”
The suspected assailants allegedly got away in a stolen 2015 Lincoln MKZ sedan after stealing cell phones and credit and debit cards belonging to the students.
The investigation is ongoing and so far, no arrests have been made.
