CU Boulder students uneasy after shots fired during attempted robbery overnight
Students at the University of Colorado Boulder campus are uneasy after shots were fired on campus during an attempted armed robbery. It happened in the parking lot of CU Boulder's Williams Village, a freshman dorm.
Students say mostly first-year students and professors park in the lot.
"Damn. Shots fired at Will Vill? OK," said freshman Samuel Opferman.
At 3:55 a.m. Tuesday, the phones of CU students buzzed with an emergency alert.
"Armed Robbery at CU Williams Village. Two suspects in dark clothing fired shots. Left in white Jeep Cherokee towards Baseline Road," the emergency alert read.
"We just woke up to a text that said there were two shooters in Will Vill last night. Nothing else, it said that they maybe left but it said there was maybe a robbery and it was unclear," said Williams Village resident Zoe Harris.
The alert said the shots were fired at Williams Village, but didn't specify where. Students were left to wonder if they were in danger.
"You're just kinda just praying that they're not gonna show up here right at that moment," said Williams Village resident Ethan Pliha.
Thirty minutes later, another alert came in.
"No injuries in Williams Village incident. Suspects have left the area. And that was that," said Williams Village resident Troy Benson, reading the second alert from his phone.
According to CU, two suspects wearing black hoodies and black bandanas over their faces tried to rob a CU student in the parking lot around 2:30 Tuesday morning. When the victim ran away, the suspects shot at them. Luckily, that student was not hit, and the robbery was unsuccessful. But when other Williams Village residents learned the details of the incident, they were concerned.
"That's scary that like people just rob 'em right outside our dorms. Like people are waiting for students to come back," said Williams Village resident Brady Jones.
"I think CU should maybe have better security," said Benson.
Other students aren't shocked.
"Honestly, not super surprising," said Opferman, "you can just look at the state of gun reform in Colorado and the US in general. I mean there's not a lot stopping people from having guns."
The suspects are described as two Hispanic males, between 5-foot-5 and 5-foot-7 tall. Both were wearing black hoodies with black bandanas covering their faces. They left in a white Jeep Cherokee towards Baseline Road.
Anyone with information should call CU Boulder Police Detective Kevin Brough at 303-492-4469 and reference case number 2023-0800.
