Campus Police scoured the intersection of Dan Allen and Thurman drives for evidence early this morning after a group of men in a vehicle attempted to rob two students at gunpoint.

A male student patrol officer was walking with another male student westbound on Thurman Drive at around 2:30 a.m. when a “small, dirty-white vehicle” with three black males inside stopped near them as they tried to cross Dan Allen Drive, according to Sgt. Jon Barnwell of Campus Police.

Barnwell said that after the subject wearing a bandana in the backseat failed in his attempt to gesture the students over to the vehicle, he produced a small, silver handgun and demanded money.

The two students fled the scene in two different directions, and according to Barnwell, heard a shot fired. The car then sped southbound down Dan Allen Drive toward Western Boulevard.

“The fortunate thing was that no one got hurt,” Barnwell said.

Police remained at the scene for more than an hour, and although the crime scene was limited to the well-lit section on Dan Allen Drive adjacent to the West Dunn Building, officers combed the road, the sidewalks and even the bushes of the surrounding area with flashlights. Officers were particularly interested in an approximately 10-foot swath of tire tracks located within the crime scene.

Barnwell said he was unable to ascertain if Campus Police had recovered any bullet casings from the scene.

The Campus Police response was “pretty quick,” according to Barnwell, a fact he attributed to the student patrol officer, who radioed his report directly to Campus Police. He said that since all student patrol officers have radios, the response time to their reports is generally faster.

Campus Police also used a handful of other student patrol officers to secure the scene this morning.

Safety Escort Services, a program run by Campus Police and funded by University Housing, employs the student patrol officers.

The names of the students involved in the incident were not immediately available.

Campus Police is asking anyone with any information to call 515.3000.

For more information, check out Friday’s print edition of the Technician.