Gunmen Rob Frat House in University City

A night of celebration soon turned to one of terror for members of a local fraternity after armed men broke into their home.

Members of the Upsilon Sigma Phi fraternity were hosting a birthday party at their frat house on the 400 block of South 42nd Street around 2 a.m. Wednesday. Suddenly the members, who are students at the University of Sciences in Philadelphia, heard a knock at the door.

“As soon as I turned the knob and cracked the door I got gripped up,” said one of the students, who did not want to be identified.

Police say two armed men forced their way inside the home and ordered everyone to the ground. They then began to attack one of the students.

“I was shaking,” the student said. “My body was shaking. I couldn’t catch my breath at times because the guy was kicking me in the gut.”

As one of the suspects watched over the victims downstairs, the second gunman dragged a student upstairs and demanded he give him money that was inside a safe, according to police.

“We went up the president’s room and he took all of the fraternity dues we started collecting,” the student said.

Investigators say the gunmen stole around $1000 from the safe before fleeing the scene. Police have not yet released a description of the gunmen.

Officials with the University of Sciences told NBC10 they are working with the University of Pennsylvania, whose campus is located near where the robbery took place, to make sure students are safe. Penn Police normally patrol the area.

Officials with the University of Sciences also said they would send a safety alert to students on Thursday.

 

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