Two Quinnipiac University students were robbed at gunpoint less than 3 miles from the Mount Carmel Campus early Saturday morning, Chief of Public Safety Tony Reyes wrote in an email to the Quinnipiac community several hours later.

Reyes said the students, whose identities remain unknown, were walking south on Whitney Avenue just after midnight Saturday when a dark-skinned male suspect with a semi-automatic handgun approached them and demanded money. 

The students, who Reyes said were traveling near the 4200 block of Whitney Avenue on their way to an off-campus house, gave the gunman $40 and a wallet.

After robbing the students, who were not injured, the assailant fled the scene in a dark, four-door sedan.

“The Hamden Police Department is investigating this armed robbery,” Reyes wrote in the May 6 email. “Anyone with information about this crime is asked to contact the Hamden Police Department at 203-230-4000 or the Quinnipiac University Department of Public Safety at 203-582-6200.”

Although violent crime rates have yet to return to pre-pandemic levels, robberies remain relatively uncommon in Hamden and have decreased in frequency since peaking in 2020, according to the Hamden Police Department. 

Just under 50 robberies occurred in Hamden in 2022, a 32% decline from 2020 and a 17% decline from 2021, according to the department’s most recent crime statistics report.

By comparison, more than 220 robberies occurred in nearby New Haven last year, nearly 40% of which were committed with a firearm. It is unclear what percentage of Hamden robberies are armed robberies.

Reyes advised members of the Quinnipiac community to always comply with an assailant’s demands if threatened with a gun or other weapon.

“Incidents like this can shake our sense of security,” Reyes wrote. “Always trust your instincts. If the situation doesn’t ‘feel right,’ get away.”