Temple students robbed in North Philadelphia home invasion

NORTH PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- Two Temple University students say they were robbed during a home invasion in North Philadelphia.

It happened around 1 a.m. Thursday along the 1400 block of Willington Street.

Action News spoke to one of the victims, John, a Temple film student, about the terrifying moments when he and his girlfriend had a gun pointed right at their heads.

"He had a gun in my face and said he was going to blow my brains out," John said.

John described the moment of terror when a man with his face covered, a hoodie over his head, came into the bedroom where he and his girlfriend were about to go to sleep around 1 a.m. Thursday.

"He told us, 'Shut up. Where's the money?' I told him, 'I don't have any money. I am in college. I have $40 and that is a lot of money to me,'" John said.

John said the suspect saw their electronics, laptops, and phone outs and he grabbed them.

He then gave them an order: to delete the iCloud information off the phones.

"I didn't know how because it's not something I do frequently. So he was like literally coaching us through how to do it," John said.

A second suspect who'd been waiting in the hallway ordered the victims to a living room sofa at gunpoint while his accomplice searched the home.

They then forced the victims into the basement. The pair made off with laptops, phones, an Xbox, backpacks, wallets, money, and keys.

"They see college kids. It's an easy hit. We have stuff. They don't have stuff," John said.

Another housemate who was away at the time believes this was supposed to be a burglary.

"They didn't break in through the front door. They came in through a window in our living room and crawled over a fire escape," the housemate said.

One of the victims' parents rushed to the home in the 1400 block of Willington upon getting the news Thursday morning.

"I am hoping there's going to be an increased police presence in this area and on this street," the mother said.

"It definitely puts you on edge, for sure," John said.

The suspects are described as:

Suspect #1 is a black male, 18-20yrs, 5'8"-5'9", 140lbs, black sweat pants, black hooded sweat jacket, black Nike sneakers, black gloves with yellow on them, and a black half face mask.

Suspect #2 is a black male, 18-20yrs, 5'8"-5'10", 140lbs, wearing similar clothing, blue gloves, and a black half face mask.

Another neighbor told Action News police were recently talking to some of the residents about other break-ins.

With so much student housing in the area, there are surveillance cameras everywhere. Police hope one of them captured the suspects.