Two recent residence hall robberies in the past week have left police searching for suspects and prompted campus officials to discuss the safety of students in the dorms.

On Wednesday, three men were seen running from Bailey Hall after an armed robbery of two students in their dorm room. MSU police Sgt. Florene McGlothian-Taylor confirmed Thursday that a handgun was used in the incident.

A similar robbery occurred April 21 in Mayo Hall, when three men entered a room and "forcibly" took a wallet. McGlothian-Taylor said she doesn't believe a weapon was used in that robbery.

Police are waiting to interview more witnesses and have not released specific details in either robbery, and McGlothian-Taylor could not confirm if the two incidents are related.

Computer science freshman Matt Julson was one of the victims of Wednesday's robbery that left him without a Nintendo GameCube, PlayStation 2, laptop computer, cell phone and as much as $70.

The three men entered Julson's second-floor room asking for directions to an intramural facility, Julson said. After he gave them directions, along with a can of Mountain Dew, the three men left, but then returned, saying they still couldn't find their way, he said.

After entering the room a second time, one of the men shut and locked the door and unplugged the telephone from the phone jack, while another man revealed a handgun and pointed it at Julson, he said.

"It was the last thing I was expecting," Julson said. "I was really surprised."

While Julson watched, the men emptied his backpack and filled it up with the stolen goods as one man advised Julson to not move.

"I was trying to think of something to do, but they had the gun and I was outnumbered," Julson said. "I couldn't really do much."

The three men fled the scene after Julson's roommate, chemical engineering freshman James Lipke, returned to the room from class.

McGlothian-Taylor said students should send people looking for help to the front desk of the residence hall, instead of letting them in their room.

"If they don't know the people, they should not be letting them in the room," she said. "If it doesn't seem right, that's when they need to call us."

Students living in the dorms should be aware of their surroundings and try to be responsible for their own safety, she added.

"We like to stress to students that when they see something suspicious taking place within the residence halls ? to call us immediately and indicate there's a suspicious person in the building," McGlothian-Taylor said. "We encourage people to always keep doors closed and locked."

University Housing officials are in the process of drafting a letter to be sent to students living in residence halls advising them about safety, Director of University Housing Angela Brown said.

Brown said the letter is in response to the two incidents.

But she said despite the recent problems, the campus is safe and people enjoy the openness of it.

"You don't want to believe that your fellow residents would put you in harm's way or your property in harm's way," Brown said. "Everyone, whether on campus or in an apartment off campus, should always be very concerned about living safely."

Sarah McEvilly can be reached at mcevilly@msu.edu.

Don Jordan can be reached at jordand3@msu.edu.