The Duke University Police Department is increasing patrols after a student was robbed at gunpoint Tuesday night, DUPD Assistant Chief Gloria Graham said.
Freshman Neha Sharma was walking near the East Campus Bridge when a man with a gun got out of the passenger seat of a dark car and robbed her of her backpack, she said. Sharma was not hurt in the 9:45 p.m. incident, which occurred as she walked from West Campus to East Campus.
“I think I was just really shocked. It was kind of a surreal moment,” she said. “I’ve never seen a gun that big.”
Duke Police have been working closely with the Durham Police Department to investigate the armed robbery, DUPD Chief John Dailey said.
He added that the incident may be connected to a robbery in Durham that occurred after the robbery at Duke. He declined to release further details to avoid jeopardizing the investigation.
“We’re working very closely with the Durham Police Department,” he said. “We typically do that any time we have any type of crime.”
In a news release, Duke Police describe the suspect in the on-campus robbery as a bald, large-built black man in his 30s wearing dark pants and a dark baggy sweatshirt. Dailey said police do not have the license plate number of the vehicle involved.
Sharma said she was most upset about losing her books and notes, which were in her backpack along with an iPod.
“They were very good textbooks and very good notes and very good annotations,” she said. “Even if I don’t get my notes back, all he gets is a malfunctioning iPod.”
When the attacker demanded her backpack, Sharma said she asked the man if she could keep her books.
“He told me to turn around and keep walking, and don’t look back,” she said.
A DukeAlert e-mail about the incident was sent to the Duke community Tuesday night at approximately 11 p.m. The message was the first DukeAlert since Aug. 28 when a female employee was robbed at Parking Garage II on Erwin Road.
Tuesday’s robbery is the third on or near East Campus in recent months. A senior was robbed at gunpoint two blocks from East Campus Aug. 8, and then shot in the abdomen when he fought back. A junior was robbed at gunpoint July 28 behind the East Union Building, which houses the Marketplace.
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.