Two separate cases of assault within a two-week period left a pair of male students injured and raise the concern of campus safety.

One student was left with minor injuries after he was forced to give up his bicycle and his wallet to two suspects, according to police.

The victim was bicycling by the Arboretum, located near the campus’s J Street entrance, at 12:30 a.m. Friday when he saw the two suspects standing in the area, according to an alert bulletin from the University Police. No weapons were involved in the case and no witnesses were at the scene. The suspects are both men, according to police.

Another male student was left with injuries after being struck in the face with a textbook in a separate case of assault that occurred on Sept. 12.

The victim, Gus (who only wanted to use his first name), said he was walking alone to class from his room in the residence halls when the incident occurred. University Police Sergeant Kelly Clark said the victim was attacked when one of three males walking opposite of him struck him in the face with a textbook.

Gus said he had no warning. “I don’t even know what I’d done if I had a warning too,” Gus said.

There were five witnesses at the scene, Clark said. He said that they are still speaking with witnesses and have several leads that they are following up on.

Clark said that there was no dispute between the two parties that they could determine. Gus confirmed that he did not know the suspects and was caught off guard.

“There was no prior dispute,” Gus said. “I’ve never seen them before and I haven’t seen them since.”

“I felt completely confused. What did I do to deserve this?” he said.

The victim was transported to a hospital and was examined in the emergency room, Clark said. He was released that same night.

Despite the attack against him, Gus doesn’t feel less safe on campus but he has become more aware of his surroundings.

“I definitely wish this did not happen, but I don’t think I feel less safe on campus because it was something that no one could have prevented,” Gus said. “So all I’m trying to do is move on.”

Ash Roughani, a first year graduate student of public policy and administration, said he does not feel any less safe on campus. He said that he feels as safe on campus as he does anywhere else in Sacramento.

“There is a chance that any violent incident could happen to anyone whether they are on or off campus,” Roughani said. “There are psychos everywhere and it will be simply a case of bad luck if they decide to do something to you.”

Kristina Schuett, government-journalism major, is in her first year at Sac State and lives at the dorms. Schuett says that she feels like she has to be more aware during nighttime both in the dorms and on campus.

“I typically won’t walk around outside by myself at night,” Schuett said.

Schuett takes a few precautions including walking in a group and avoiding things that look suspicious or unsafe.

“You can never be too sure that nothing won’t happen,” she said. “I think people need to be more aware of everything that has been going on recently and take certain precautions to ensure their own safety.”

Clark said he encourages students program the University Police’s number in their phones in case of an emergency and use the emergency phones located around campus.

He said when an emergency occurs on campus, being able to get through to the office directly would help the officers better assist those people in need.

Nika Megino can be reached at [email protected]