A recent wave of violent crimes near the Palmetto Street Apartments , including a carjacking, has students asking for steeped up security in the area. The crime spree has resulted in one FAMU student being carjacked at gunpoint.
A Oct. 27 incident turned one student's act of kindness into a near fatal nightmare, which left him locked in his trunk.
"I was leaving Phase III, and a dude came up to me and asked me for a ride," said Brian Walton, 20, a junior physics student from Atlanta. "As I'm giving him a ride, he pulls out a gun."
After the attacker made Walton pull out his shoelaces, and tied his hands and feet together and forced him into the trunk of his 2004 Saturn L300.
Walton's vehicle was recovered Nov. 5.
"It's not the first time it's happened," said Christine Colon, 19, a sophomore nursing student who lives in the Palmetto Street Apartments.
University Spokewoman, LaNedra Carroll, suggested there was no substantial increase in crime.
"It's my understanding that there's no specific pattern of behavior that's unique to Palmetto," Carroll said. "I know the police officials are doing all they can to keep the students safe not only at Palmetto, but also campuswide."
Campus police have promised to step up patrols in the area.