Updated August 29, 2014: Read about arrests in this case here. Note: Police originally reported that there were four suspects; however, they later determined that there were only three. The article has been altered to reflect this information.
8/25, 3:14 p.m.: this article was updated with additional information from Capt. Kyle Kroll of the South Orange Police Department.
Four Seton Hall University students were robbed at gunpoint early Sunday morning, and two of them also were assaulted, according to Chief James Chelel of the South Orange Police Department.
The four were walking near the intersection of Prospect Street and Irvington Avenue at approximately 1:00 a.m. when three men, all wearing hooded sweatshirts, got out of a dark green minivan and approached them with a silver handgun, said Capt. Kyle Kroll. Kroll said he believed two of the students were upperclassman and two were lower classmen, although he did not have their exact ages.
One man punched one of the students in the face, and then the men took the students’ wallets and cellphones, said Chelel. Another student was pistol whipped in the head. One student was treated by the South Orange Rescue Squad at the scene and released; the other was uninjured, said Chelel.
The three men then got back into the mini van and fled the scene. An empty wallet belonging to one of the victims was recovered nearby.
The Detective Bureau has no leads at the moment but is actively investigating the incident. Anyone with information should contact Det. Steve Davenport at (973) 378-7772, x7797.
Chelel reminded residents that one of the most helpful things they can do to thwart thefts is to install tracking software on their cellphones, which makes it much easier for police to recover them. In addition, said Chelel, if anyone is ever threatened by someone with a weapon, they should give up whatever they have and never challenge them.
