3 Women Raped in Home Raid

A group of men wearing ski masks burst into an apartment near the Rutgers University campus, raped three women at knife-point and gunpoint and fled, police said Wednesday.

No arrests have been made in the attacks, officials said.

“Every lead is being aggressively pursued,” said Sgt. Richard Rowe with the New Brunswick Police Department, which is conducting the investigation.

Campus police said at least two of the women were Rutgers students but Rowe would not confirm that.

On Monday four men entered the ground-floor apartment of a two-story house carrying a knife and a gun, police said. Eight people were in the apartment, including the three women who were assaulted, police said.

Authorities said the attackers stole money and possessions, and punched a man who was in the apartment.

The victims were taken to Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital, where they were treated and released, police said.

The house is a block from Rutgers’ College Avenue campus in New Brunswick, a city of about 50,000 people in central New Jersey. New Brunswick and campus police say they have bolstered patrols in the area.

Several students voiced worry about their safety.

One, Sarah White, 20, a junior, said, “Being a female who lives off campus, it’s scary. Even if you lock your doors, that’s not enough.”

Emmet A. Dennis, Rutgers’ vice president for student affairs, discussed the attacks in an e-mail sent to students.

“Our community is distressed by the terrible crimes committed against several students and their friends in an off-campus residence on Monday morning,” the message read.