Back to school activities have been marred by a particularly ugly incident at San Jose State University.
The campus has been shaken by the robbery and kidnapping of a student on Wednesday afternoon.
The student was released unharmed but not before he was robbed at gunpoint at a 7-Eleven.
The perpetrator remains at large and the campus is a bit on-edge after this happened on just the second day of school.
The hold-up occurred around 2:30 p.m. Wednesday.
The unidentified student tells police he was confronted and robbed at gunpoint by a man at a popular 7-Eleven, just across the street from the university’s busy south garage.
The brazen, daylight crime put a damper on the evening plans of sophomore Hannah Garzota, who lives right around the corner.
“Last night, I just stayed in my apartment and decided I wasn’t leaving,” Garzota said. “I told my friends to just stay inside.”
The victim was released unharmed but not before he was allegedly kidnapped and forced to withdraw cash from several ATMs around town.
Students and faculty were alerted to the incident, which has clearly gotten everybody’s attention during the first week of school, says spokeswoman Pat Lopes-Harris.
“San Jose State University is shaken by the incident that occurred yesterday,” Lopes-Harris said. “We are asking all of our students, faculty, and staff to remain vigilant and call in any tips they might have in this case.”
The suspect, who remains at large, is a male in his 20s, with a dark complexion and hair dyed yellow. He was wearing a gray, hooded sweatshirt, black pants with a white stripe and a Jamz-brand gray backpack.
Students did not seem to be avoiding the 7-Eleven on Thursday but several, like Garzota, who is now carrying pepper spray, were on guard nonetheless.
“I have never encountered anything like that, and I don’t want to, but it’s scary to know that this happened near campus and so close to where I live,” Garzota said.
There are surveillance cameras both inside and outside the 711, but San Jose police, who are investigating this case, released no information about what the video might show.
7-Eleven clerks declined to speak with KRON4 but investigators are no doubt hoping that someone here around 2:30 p.m. may have witnessed what happened and will come forward.
Here is a statement from SJSU:
