What Mississippi State students can do to avoid danger after armed robbery incidents at apartments just off-campus

STARKVILLE, Miss. (WCBI) – Two incidents involving armed robbers at apartment parking lots near Mississippi State have students concerned.

The Oktibbeha County Sheriff’s Department says two men robbed at least three college students at gunpoint sometime after midnight on Wednesday at the Helix Apartments. The students involved were not hurt but others are understandably shaken.

“That’s very scary,” said MSU junior and Helix resident Makenzie Riley.

Marco Nguyen says he was visiting a friend at Helix Wednesday and told WCBI that he heard what sounded like girls screaming and a man yelling and stomping around the apartment in the room below.

“There was a lot of banging, a lot of screaming, dogs were barking. It was pretty chaotic,” Nyuen said.

He says that went on from about 12:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.

“It sounded like someone was in danger,” he said.

Investigators say it was between 12 a.m. and 2 a.m. when the attempted armed robbery at 21 Apartments, followed shortly by the armed robbery at Helix, took place.

Both are just minutes away from the MSU campus.

“I think it’s important if you have night classes, have someone drive you,” don’t walk alone at night and just always watch your back,” Riley said.

Cpl. Chantel Solis-McCoy with campus police teaches self-defense courses for students and says these are among the many safety precautions students should take.

“Before you actually even get in your vehicle, check around your car, check and make sure there’s no one under your car. Make sure that no one is sitting in your backseat,” she said.

If held at gunpoint, Cpl. Solis-McCoy says it is important to stay calm and not jeopardize one’s safety by resisting.

“Take mental notes of everything, not only [the suspect’s] appearance but also what the robber is doing,” she said. “If he had on gloves, where did you see him put the gloves? Did he drop them? Did you see him spit? Did he touch anything?”

Campus police also have a service called Safe Walk where students can be escorted anywhere on campus (or just off of it) between 6 p.m. and 2 am.

“It doesn’t matter where it’s located,” Cpl. Solis-McCoy said. “It could be at the College School apartments or even to the premises here off Campus.”

Students wishing to use the service can do so by calling 662-325-2121.

Oktibbeha investigators believe their armed robbery suspects are the same people responsible for an armed robbery near the Cotton District in 2020.

Those with any information about the incidents should call Golden Triangle Crime Stoppers at 1-800-530-7151.