6 UMd. Students Robbed Inside College Park Dormitory

COLLEGE PARK, Md. (WJZ) -- Frightening moments at the University of Maryland. Police are searching for two men who somehow got inside a dorm on the College Park campus and robbed students at gunpoint.

WJZ Investigator Mike Hellgren talks to a student who was just a few feet away when it happened.

He says he usually leaves his doors unlocked. He is happy he did not that night. It's a massive dorm just off Route 1, across from campus police headquarters.

An armed man forced his way inside a student's room inside the Montgomery Hall dorms in the heart of the University of Maryland, College Park campus.

Police say a second man soon followed, stealing property before both fled.

WJZ tracked down Fawzi Asraf, who lives in the next suite.

"You're right next door to where someone had a gun pulled on them. It's a scary event," said Asraf. "I think it was probably a random room. I don't think it was a targeted sort of event."

The doors are always locked and require the swipe of a key card to enter--but that doesn't guarantee security.

"Some people look like a student, and some, they just ask someone else, like, 'Hey, can you swipe me in?'" said Javier Fernandez, Montgomery Hall.

"It's generally a really good system. The only problem is when people don't think and just let people in," said Meg Wickless, Montgomery Hall.

Campus police tell WJZ the victims waited a day to report the frightening incident. It happened Sunday night.

"It's certainly a question I would love to have the answer to. There's no telling why someone would wait over 24 hours to call us," said Major Marc Lemansky, University of Maryland College Park Police.

Some students and parents are concerned that the entire campus was not notified until more than 12 hours after police initially met with the victims.

Police provide updated crime information, including detailed lists of incidents and maps of where they happened, but say armed robberies on campus inside a dorm are almost unheard of.

"This is something we hardly ever see. I can't think of the last time we had an incident involving a weapon inside a residence hall room," said Lemansky.

Police tell WJZ they're close to solving this case, while students who live there are watching their backs and locking their doors.

Police have made no arrests as of yet. They say there were no copycat or other types of crimes like this on campus, but urge people to continue to stay alert.

Police continue to canvass the area ask students if they saw anything suspicious.