MEMPHIS, TN (abc24.com) - Recent robberies near the University of Memphis have students and residents on edge. In a span of hours Friday night, two women were confronted in their homes by thieves packing pistols and robbed of their belongings.
The robberies happened south of the U of M campus in the 600-block of Patterson and the 3700-block of Carnes. Kimberly Barna moved into an apartment complex on Patterson near the U of M about a month ago. She says she wasn't surprised when criminals paid a visit to the area last week. She told abc24.com, "Things like that happen here."
The first robbery took place on Patterson around 10 p.m. on Friday, May 11 when a woman says a black man with a pistol pushed her into her home and robbed her.
The second robbery happened six hours later, several blocks away on Carnes. In that robbery two black men went into a woman's unlocked door armed with guns and demanded cash.
James Cranford lives in the area and said, "Hopefully it doesn't come to my house." He told abc24.com he doesn't believe the robberies were random. He believes "somebody got targeted."
Other student residents in the area like Barna hope Cranford's theory is right, but still don't feel any safer.
