Temple asks community to remain vigilant after assaults on 2 students

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Temple University is asking students and staff to remain vigilant after campus police say three teenagers attacked two students Tuesday night.

Police say two 13-year-olds and a 15-year-old were taken into custody in connection to the incidents.

The teens are accused of assaulting a student at 11th Street and Montgomery Avenue at around 10:20 p.m. on Tuesday, police said.

Authorities say the teens later assaulted and stole the backpack of another student 20 minutes later at Cecil B. Moore Station on SEPTA's Broad Street Line. The student's backpack was later recovered by police.

The incident comes as students are moving into on-campus housing with the fall semester scheduled to start next Monday.

Senior student Carl Borgstrom said he lives near one of the incidents.

"I usually feel like the campus is a safe haven, so hearing that and hearing it's so close to my apartment, it's definitely a little bit scary," he said.

Mark Foster's son, Brandon, is an incoming freshman at the school. He also said it's concerning to hear of the attacks. Foster believes campus security has improved.

"Hopefully, it's just an isolated incident," he said.

Youth violence continues to be an issue in the city.

Now, Philadelphia police are reminding young people a curfew is still in effect.

A young person between the ages of 14 and 18 violates the curfew if they're out past 10 p.m. without a parent. It's the same for teens under the age of 13 if they're out past 9:30 p.m. The teens and their caregivers could be fined up to $300 for violating curfew.

Philadelphia police say they continue to enforce it throughout the city but Jennifer Griffin, Temple's police chief and vice president of public safety, said a citation will only go so far.

"That doesn't solve the underlying issue that they have nothing to do or they don't want to engage in the programs that are available," she said.

Griffin said campus police continue to work with Philadelphia police on ways to improve campus safety, but she says it's important to note crime is down campuswide.

"We've seen good decreases in aggravated assaults and vehicle thefts," Griffin said. "We continue to increase and leverage this strategy that we have with our police officers and how we work with the city and how we are using technology, so we feel very good with where we are positioned at the beginning of the semester."