A female University of Mississippi student was robbed at gunpoint around 2 a.m. Friday on University Avenue near the bridge that crosses Gertrude Ford Boulevard, according to the University Police Department (UPD).
Another female student was with the victim when the robbery occurred.
The suspect allegedly pointed a small-caliber gun to one of the female victim’s heads and took her purse, according to the crime alert posted by UPD Friday night. The suspect drives an older-model black sedan with tinted windows and was last seen heading toward Grove Loop.
“We are trying to find the person responsible for this crime,” UPD Chief Calvin Sellers said. “The victim was doing exactly what she should have been doing. She was out late, but she was in a well lit area and was with another person.”
Sellers said that the victim only had an iPhone and her wallet in the purse. The other female student involved did not have anything stolen from her. The two were walking back to campus from the Square.
“I would encourage any student in that situation to give up any belongings,” Sellers said. “She did everything exactly right. It just shows that something like this can happen at any time, so you have to be aware of your surroundings.”
Though the victims of the strong arm robbery were not injured, students at Ole Miss are concerned about the situation.
“I was definitely scared when I woke up to the email from UPD Saturday morning,” business sophomore Jessica Brown said. “My dad also got the email and called me to warn me. It’s scary to think that Oxford has people like that.”
The suspect is described in the crime alert as a black male with black hair anda slight mustache, 5-foot- 4 inches to 5-feet-6 inches tall and a skinny build. The suspect was wearing a white T-shirt with a pocket and baggy blue jeans. He wore a white flat bill hat with a red underbill.
“We would encourage students to use common sense,” Dean of Students Sparky Reardon said. “While this is one of the safest campuses, we are not necessarily immune to incidents like this.”
UPD urges students to review safety tips to avoid falling victim to a similar situation.
