Temple University students had cellphones stolen in armed robberies off campus in North Philadelphia

Two Temple University students were robbed this week in separate incidents off campus in North Philadelphia, university officials announced.

Jennifer Griffin, Temple's vice president for public safety and chief of police, said the first robbery happened Wednesday morning off campus on the 1800 block of West Montgomery Avenue.

Griffin said the student was approached by a man armed with a gun who stole his cellphone at around 6:15 a.m. The suspect then fled the area north on 18th Street. The student wasn't injured in the robbery, according to Griffin.

The other two robberies happened early Thursday morning.

Griffin said a Temple student was walking off campus on the 1500 block of Oxford Street when two men armed with a handgun stole their cellphone at about 1:30 a.m. One of the suspects fired a shot into the air when leaving the scene, but nobody was struck by the gunfire, according to Griffin.

The same two suspects in that robbery were involved in another robbery on the 1300 block of Carlisle Street that happened minutes before the one on the 1500 block of Oxford Street, Griffin said.

In that robbery, Griffin said a phone was taken from a person not affiliated with Temple.

Temple's Police Department released images of the suspects wanted in connection with Thursday's robberies. 

Griffin said that the Temple and Philadelphia Police Departments will increase their presence in the area where the robberies happened. So far, no arrests have been made.

Griffin also encouraged members of the Temple community to use the university's safety resources like the walking escort program, the Flight shuttle service and other resources in the TUSafe app.

Anyone with information about the robberies is asked to contact police.