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Victim Speaks After On-Campus Armed Robbery

By: Regina Willis

The campus is buzzing after an armed robbery near the Coker Arboretum Saturday night, and some students are starting to rethink their security on campus.

Campus police say violent crimes are rare on campus; this was the first armed robbery here in three years. Everyone hopes it was just an isolated incident.

UNC-Chapel Hill Junior Justin Cunningham was one of the victims. He says it was all too real for him.

"You know, they said things like, 'If you scream, I'll blow off your head with, or I'll put a bullet in your head,'" Cunningham said.

He explained how the unexpected happened to him and a female friend.

They drove to his dorm Saturday after having dinner.

"We had parked in the arboretum because there weren't any spaces in the parking lot here," Cunningham said.

Before they got out of the car, he saw two men walk by.

"I thought they looked kind of shady," Cunningham said, "but I didn't really think they were going to harm us or anything."

"We got out and we were walking back here and on the way, they came up to us, pulled out the gun and said, 'Don't make this any harder than it has to be and just give us all your cash.'"

"I was pretty much just in shock," Cunningham said. All he could think was, "I can't even believe this is happening at all."

"Once we had given them the money, they said, 'Alright walk into the woods'...and then we came back here and called the police."

Police are still looking for the gunman and his partner. The gunman is about 5' 10'' and of medium build. His partner is about 5' 9'' with a thin build. To see composite sketches of the men, go to the UNC-Chapel Hill Public Safety web site: http://main.psafety.unc.edu/publicsafety/Emergency/armedrobbery.htm

Cunningham doesn't think the men are locals because they weren't afraid to show their faces, "and then secondly they said 'Go into the woods,' which I think any student, and probably anybody in Chapel Hill would've said, 'Go into the arboretum.'"

The incident has still left some students concerned about their safety.

"It's definitely been sort of unsettling, I guess and sort of broken down, my, you know, belief that I live in this safe little bubble here," said UNC-Chapel Hill Freshman Laura Gibson.

"I don't think they should be worried, I think they should be cautious," said Major Jeff McCracken of UNC-Chapel Hill Campus Police.

He advises students to walk in pairs and be aware of their surroundings, but he adds there's no way to absolutely avoid crime.

Cunningham found out the hard way that sometimes the rules don't apply. He thought he was safe using the buddy system.

"I guess it's definitely better than walking alone, because who knows what would have happened if it would have been one person," he said. "But maybe I would try to use the gang system instead of the buddy system."

Cunningham says although he was nervous walking around campus for a few days, he's trying to put the incident behind him and live his life normally.

 
   

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