As fall break approached last week, a male student was mugged at gunpoint; two hours earlier, a female student was approached and asked for money.

At 9:15 p.m. Oct. 18, a 22-year-old male student was held at gunpoint and mugged in the 1700 block of West Kilbourn Avenue, according to Department of Public Safety reports. He was walking on the sidewalk when an unidentified person approached him. The suspect pulled out a handgun and demanded the student's wallet.

The student complied with the demands; he turned over his leather wallet, valued at $80, and the $40 in cash, identification and credit cards that it contained. After the suspect fled the scene, the student called DPS.

DPS responded and the student called the Milwaukee Police Department from his cell phone. Later that night, DPS detained a person fitting the description of the suspect, but after seeing that person, the victim did not identify the person as the suspect. As of publication, no arrests had been made.

Earlier that night, at 7:13 p.m., DPS responded to a call in the 900 block of North 16th Street. A 20-year-old female student reported that an unidentified male suspect approached her and said, "Give me your money," according to Capt. Russ Shaw, associate director of Public Safety. The woman screamed and the man said, "Man, I was just kidding," according to Shaw. The suspect then fled the scene.

DPS does not consider the incident an attempted mugging because there was no weapon, implied or otherwise, and the suspect never officially threatened the woman, Shaw said. Though nothing was stolen, DPS is still taking the case seriously, Shaw said.

The names of the students were not released because of the sensitive nature of the incidents.

Shaw said in an emergency, students should contact DPS as soon as possible. He also said students should remember to use the designated Blue Light safety phones if necessary.

"The faster we're contacted, the better chance to get the suspect," he said.

Shaw also encouraged students to utilize all the safety resources DPS offers, like the LIMOs and Student Safety Patrol services.

This article was published in The Marquette Tribune on October 25, 2005.