Armed Robbery Wave in Cbus - Students Without Firearms

[Ivy08]

Possibly somewhat off-topic because it concerns a scenario without possession of a firearm, but we all have to deal with "gun-free" criminal protection zones, so I think it's fair game for discussion...

Apparently in Columbus, Ohio around OSU's campus there has been a wave of armed robberies. I have a female relative who attends school there and lives off-campus nearby, and she told me that all of the victims had been men thus far, until this:

Woman Says Men Attempted To Rob Her At Gunpoint | WBNS-10TV

Someone she knows was mugged - one man approached with a gun, and another hit him on the back of the head with a gun. They took all of his things and fled. You can get a good idea of how the robbery of the woman took place in the above article. My relative said that she heard that all of this is because of gang initiations. She has also received numerous "crime alerts" from the police via the university alert system, but it seems that they are taking a wait-it-out approach and not doing much of anything proactive.

Since most of the students walking around the neighborhood are either going to or coming from campus, none of them are going to be (legally) armed.

She is quite upset because the advice she's getting on what to do is all very contradictory. She keeps a firearm in her apartment and is a great shot, but that doesn't help her walking to or from class.

So, if two armed men order you into an alley in a crowded college neighborhood, what's the next step?

[DefensiveCarry.com]

[Hoganbeg]

Run away instantly. Or, lacking that, Situational Awareness, Pepper spray, and GOOD martial arts training.

[archer51]

The most important SD tool you have is located on your shoulders. Good SA can alleviate most situations. Keep your eyes moving and actually see what is going on around you. Don't be talking on your cell phone, texting or listening to your i-pod. Don't walk alone, especially at night, keep in a group, the more people, the better. Keep to well lit and populated streets. Don't take short cuts through alleys, open fields or vacant lots. A good pepper spray and a high pitch personal alarm are also good things to carry in area's where you can't be armed with a gun.

[db4usa]

There seems to be a wave these robberies in St. Louis as well. Thugs prey on unarmed students and campus security works harder at keeping it out of the news than to catch them. Just saying...
db

[buckeye .45]

Well, first of all, this isn't really anything new.

When I went to college there from 03-07, there was plenty of crime back then, lots of assaults, muggings, robberies, burglaries, ect... And most of it happened in the samee areas that all the same stuff happened when a friend of my parents went to school back there in the 70's. Generally East and South of the campus were trouble. Directly south of campus is a bad area, east of Summit is nothing but trouble. North of campus (where this happened actually, is usually safer), and west of campus is pretty good.

What I did back when I went there, was kept a good surefire on me. I also worked security at several of the bars, and it came in handy there too. But I would often be walking home between 2-4 in the morning from work, and good SA is a must. Have her look into something like a good defensive flashlight. You can blind/disorient your attacker with it, or use it as a fist-pack, or to supplement hammer strikes. Of course, that requires contact distance.

Almost every female I knew up there kept some pepper spray in her purse, get your relative the best one you can. I don't think campus PD or C-bus pd are going to bat an eye at a college girl with mace. That also gives her a bit more distance.

On campus is also pretty safe. Tell her to stick to the main streets, like Lane and High, as much as possible. Both are well lit, and heavily traveled. Some of the side streets, not so much. Tell her to try to avoid walking alone, I can't count the number of times I'd be walking home from work, and there would be a solitary female walking down the street alone. And then if they had enough awareness to see me, they would pull out there cell phone, and pretend to talk to someone on it. I didn't even like walking alone up there at night half the time.

Two armed men wouldn't get me into an alley. They might shoot me while trying to force me out there, but you can bet that I wouldn't go quietly. It is an extremely densely populated area. If she screams, someone will hear it, and take notice. The bigger a scene she makes, the more attention it creates, and the more likely someone is to notice.

[Ivy08]

Run away instantly. Or, lacking that, Situational Awareness, Pepper spray, and GOOD martial arts training.

Yeah, she sent me a link to a video with some Krav Maga techniques and I said "but you DON'T know Krav Maga!" Heh. She's into boxing so she can throw a surprise punch, but that's about it. She does usually carry pepper spray.

[Ivy08]

The most important SD tool you have is located on your shoulders. Good SA can alleviate most situations. Keep your eyes moving and actually see what is going on around you. Don't be talking on your cell phone, texting or listening to your i-pod. Don't walk alone, especially at night, keep in a group, the more people, the better. Keep to well lit and populated streets. Don't take short cuts through alleys, open fields or vacant lots. A good pepper spray and a high pitch personal alarm are also good things to carry in area's where you can't be armed with a gun.

Her route back and forth is pretty direct, with a few alleys I will remind her to avoid. I also told her she can always take her car, pay to park in the deck, and then drive right back to her apartment. She possesses fairly decent situational awareness, though she does walk while talking on the cell phone...she calls her dad or mother and tells them where she is and where she's walking to, and then they stay on the line until she gets to her destination. I have mixed feelings about this, but oh well. The personal alarm is a good idea - thanks.

[Ivy08]

There seems to be a wave these robberies in St. Louis as well. Thugs prey on unarmed students and campus security works harder at keeping it out of the news than to catch them. Just saying...
db

That always seems to be the case with universities - keeping it out of the news. Fresh pickings for criminals in an area they know students don't have weapons rather than downtown.

[Ivy08]

Well, first of all, this isn't really anything new.

When I went to college there from 03-07, there was plenty of crime back then, lots of assaults, muggings, robberies, burglaries, ect... And most of it happened in the samee areas that all the same stuff happened when a friend of my parents went to school back there in the 70's. Generally East and South of the campus were trouble. Directly south of campus is a bad area, east of Summit is nothing but trouble. North of campus (where this happened actually, is usually safer), and west of campus is pretty good.

What I did back when I went there, was kept a good surefire on me. I also worked security at several of the bars, and it came in handy there too. But I would often be walking home between 2-4 in the morning from work, and good SA is a must. Have her look into something like a good defensive flashlight. You can blind/disorient your attacker with it, or use it as a fist-pack, or to supplement hammer strikes. Of course, that requires contact distance.

Almost every female I knew up there kept some pepper spray in her purse, get your relative the best one you can. I don't think campus PD or C-bus pd are going to bat an eye at a college girl with mace. That also gives her a bit more distance.

On campus is also pretty safe. Tell her to stick to the main streets, like Lane and High, as much as possible. Both are well lit, and heavily traveled. Some of the side streets, not so much. Tell her to try to avoid walking alone, I can't count the number of times I'd be walking home from work, and there would be a solitary female walking down the street alone. And then if they had enough awareness to see me, they would pull out there cell phone, and pretend to talk to someone on it. I didn't even like walking alone up there at night half the time.

Two armed men wouldn't get me into an alley. They might shoot me while trying to force me out there, but you can bet that I wouldn't go quietly. It is an extremely densely populated area. If she screams, someone will hear it, and take notice. The bigger a scene she makes, the more attention it creates, and the more likely someone is to notice.

Go Bucks! I'm an alumna, too - same years, too, though I took an extra year to graduate in '08. When I was in school it was largely the same as you say, though I think it's fair to note that they had cleaned up a bit of south campus with the installation of the south campus gateway area. I was surprised that Norwich was the subject on such a robbery - iirc from my conversation, the other locations where robberies took place were also in areas generally not plagued by crime.

The defensive flashlight is a great idea...didn't even think of that. I'll remind her that it's likely someone will hear her if she makes a scene. I almost always drove to and from places, or walked with my then-boyfriend-now-husband, so I was never that single girl walking alone (and some of them just might as well paint "I'm an easy target!" on their backs).

[buckeye .45]

Go Bucks! I'm an alumna, too - same years, too, though I took an extra year to graduate in '08. When I was in school it was largely the same as you say, though I think it's fair to note that they had cleaned up a bit of south campus with the installation of the south campus gateway area. I was surprised that Norwich was the subject on such a robbery - iirc from my conversation, the other locations where robberies took place were also in areas generally not plagued by crime.

The defensive flashlight is a great idea...didn't even think of that. I'll remind her that it's likely someone will hear her if she makes a scene. I almost always drove to and from places, or walked with my then-boyfriend-now-husband, so I was never that single girl walking alone (and some of them just might as well paint "I'm an easy target!" on their backs).

If you ever went to the VC, Little Bar, or a place called Polo's on Bethel, you probably saw me taking ID's and handling unruly drunks.

Gateway cleared up a lot of the area, but I still wouldn't travel south of Crittenden.

[jack76590]

Is it a criminal charge to carry a gun on campus if you have a concealed carry permit? If not then you might take your chances and carry, if the risk is at most dismissal from college. Since you are not likely to be attacked on campus and if you use your gun off campus, would/could the college administration try to prove you were carrying on campus via tracking of your movements.

In short I would not advise a person to break the LAW, but maybe you might want to consider breaking an administrative rule of the college, that could NOT put you in jail.

[buckeye .45]

Is it a criminal charge to carry a gun on campus if you have a concealed carry permit? If not then you might take your chances and carry, if the risk is at most dismissal from college. Since you are not likely to be attacked on campus and if you use your gun off campus, would/could the college administration try to prove you were carrying on campus via tracking of your movements.

In short I would not advise a person to break the LAW, but maybe you might want to consider breaking an administrative rule of the college, that could NOT put you in jail.

In Ohio it is illegal, and grounds to lose your permit.

[Yankeejib]

OSU suffers the same fate a numerous universities. Campus located directly adjacent to the 'hood. Too easy.

[osududed1313]

As a senior this year at OSU, I can attest to how BAD it has gotten in the last 3 months. Never, ever, in my first three years would I bat an eye about walking home at 3-5am after a long night in the library, or after a night of drinking with my buddies. Starting in October criminals became bold. A student walking with a friend (both males) was beaten within inches of his life for seemingly no reason (believed to be gang related). It seems with each criminal success, co-criminals become enlightened and push the limits. The week before finals a CAMPUS BUILDING was robbed at gunpoint on 11th avenue in broad daylight.

This fear by your relative is by no means irrational or exaggerated, in fact probably quite the opposite. The ONLY thing campus police, university administration, and state officials have done to curb this crime wave is attempt to keep it under wraps and provide damage control, essentially hope the whole thing blows over. All as I sit in my apartment terrified to walk to my car and fearing for my girlfriend's safety everyday, while numerous fellow students are robbed/pistol-whipped/beaten every single week.

It's a joke campus carry isn't allowed at Ohio State. I advise you to have your relative beef up her security measures more than you already have suggested...I know I am.

[kelcarry]

Why is it that before I read the actual news article, I knew the time of this incident would be at some ridiculous time at night (5AM)? As a replier has already said, situational awareness, if you have the brains for such a thing, would have you alloting your time differently that eliminates 5AM strolls, or having campus security assist you if there was a incredible need to be out and about at 5AM (sorry--I find that to be a little hard to swallow). I doubt if having a gun would make a difference if you are waltzing home from the library at 5AM with all your books and class notes. Here in Charleston, SC, the College of Charleston has had its share of robberies etal and almost all, if not all, also occur--dada--at some g-d awful very dark time of the day--usually on a side street or near an alley---DUH