Lansing - As he cooked dinner late Wednesday, Kurt Richmond heard a knock on the door of his apartment. He peered through the door's peephole and his hallway was empty.

He opened the door only to see a silver gun aimed at his head.

Half-stunned, he rushed to slam the door of his Dover's Crossing apartment, but two intruders shoved the gun through the doorway, preventing it from closing.

The intruders struck Richmond with a can of pepper spray, causing his muscles to go limp, the 29-year-old turfgrass management student said.

"I couldn't see or breathe," he said. The assailants then hustled into the apartment to see who else was there, as Richmond tried to yell.

One of his roommates, Josh Warstler, also a turfgrass management student, was on the phone with his father when he became face-to-face with the gun. One intruder hit Warstler in the head with a metal pipe as the intruder ran into his room, causing Warstler to bleed profusely.

"Your life is one inch away from ending," the 23-year-old said. "There was that fear there definitely. You always think it's not going to happen to me. When I turned around I thought, 'Is this really happening?' It's something you see in movie and it's not real."

Warstler was blinded by a 3-inch gash on his face when robbers forced him to lay underneath a blanket. The intruders proceeded to search the rest of the apartment before walking into what they thought was a closet or an extra room in the house.

But the room actually was the bedroom of 23-year-old Scott Durnion, also a turfgrass management student - the last of the roommates to be assaulted. Durnion walked right into the intruders as he headed out of his bedroom, only to have a gun pointed at his head.

"They said, 'Boom,' like the gun was going off but it didn't go off," Richmond said. "So he got on the ground and they kicked him a couple times in the ribs."

The intruders forced Durnion underneath the blanket with Warstler, whose blood started to seep into the carpet. The injury from the pipe would require him to receive more than 10 stitches.

Durnion said he thought the commotion at first was Richmond and Warstler messing around - until he saw the intruders.

"I said, 'John, are you OK?' and he said, 'Just pray.' To be honest, I wasn't even really scared," he said. "My heart wasn't even racing. I was calm pretty much the whole way. After it was all over my heart was racing, but during the whole thing I wasn't even fearing for my life. I don't even know why."

Lansing police Lt. Craig Baylis said police are investigating the robbery and said little information is available. The apartment, 3029 Beaujardin Drive, is located near Jolly and Dunckel roads.

"If we don't take care of it in one spot, it will happen in other areas," Baylis said. "Any incident can cause problems for any neighborhood or area."

The attack lasted about five minutes, Richmond said, and the intruders stole several video game systems and Durnion's backpack containing books and a driver's license. They also stole Warstler's wallet, which held personal information and a credit card.

"I couldn't see - I didn't know when they left," Richmond said. "I waited a few minutes to the door closed."

After the intruders left, the three men attended to Warstler's injuries and called the police from a cell phone. Lansing police were at the scene within minutes, Richmond said.

"I couldn't take (Warstler) to the hospital because I didn't want to drive because my eyes were screwed up from the pepper spray," he said.

The men ended up at the hospital for nearly three hours.

Durnion's mother canceled the stolen credit card but it had already been used by the robbers.

Police said intruders might have mistaken the apartment for a nearby residence that was busted for drugs two months ago.

"They might have been looking for someone who was taking their business away from them," Richmond said, adding he and his roommates had nothing to do with the drug bust.

The three roommates are being allowed out of their lease because of the assault.

David Gilstrap, the students' adviser, said he's concerned students in the area don't receive the security they deserve. "They market to the students, but they don't provide security," he said.

Officials from DTN Management Co., the company that owns the complex, were unavailable for comment and employees at the complex refused to comment on the situation.

Richmond stayed in the Lansing area following the incident.

Warstler went back to Indiana after the attack to get new personal identification cards

"I drove home," he said. "My fiancée's here. My family's here. It's times like these you need some support and this is where I get it. I'm not going to let it affect my life."

Those with information are asked to call Lansing Police Department at (517)483-4600.

Chad Previch can be reached at previchc@msu.edu.