Graduate Students Robbed at Gunpoint—Latest in String of Area Muggings

Two Harvard graduate students were robbed at gunpoint while walking along Cambridge Street near Cambridge Rindge and Latin High School early yesterday morning, according to a community advisory sent out by the Harvard University Police Department.

The two victims reported that they were approached by an unknown individual who displayed a handgun and demanded their wallets at approximately 1:20 a.m., according to the advisory. The victims gave up their wallets and a cell phone before the individual fled the area. HUPD officers responded to a call placed by the victims. Neither student was injured during the incident. They described the assailant as a heavy-set white male in his thirties with slight facial stubble. He was wearing a dark gray hooded sweatshirt.

This incident marks the third violent crime to occur near the University in the last two weeks, though none have occurred on University property.

A male graduate student was the victim of an unarmed robbery in Cambridge Common on Sept. 10. He was attacked by a group of teenagers after being distracted by an individual urinating on a tree. Four days later, a female undergraduate from Boston University was robbed on Garden Street as she traveled from Currier House to the Harvard Square MBTA station.

Investigations of these three incidents are being conducted by the Cambridge Police Department, since they occurred outside HUPD jurisdiction.

The CPD could not be reached for comment.

HUPD spokesman Steven G. Catalano said that the recent crimes do not represent a rise in overall crime. Catalano said that crime is down eight percent from Jan. 1 to Sept. 15 compared to the same time period last year, but added that HUPD is “always cautious about overemphasizing any reduction.”

“From a victim’s standpoint, one crime, especially a violent crime, is too many,” he said. “The Department needs community members to be vigilant while walking throughout campus and surrounding areas both during the day and at night and to take the appropriate precautions, such as walking with others and utilizing the shuttle bus and evening van service whenever possible.”