Suburban student stabbed and robbed in Minneapolis

(MINNEAPOLIS, Minn.) A north suburban woman was reportedly among two University of Minnesota students who were stabbed during a robbery early Monday in Minneapolis.

The women were at University Avenue NE and East Hennepin Avenue about 12:15 a.m. when a man approached them and asked for money, according to Minneapolis police spokesman Officer Scott Seroka.

According to media reports, one of the victims is a woman from Mundelein, and Seroka said those reports were accurate.

A small amount of money was exchanged, Seroka said, then the man stabbed both of the women. One of the women was stabbed in the arm and the other in the back and neck. When a witness to the attack ran over to help the women, and the suspect ran off.

The woman who was stabbed in the arm suffered a wound to a major artery, Seroka said. The other woman took off her shirt and used it as a tourniquet until a police officer arrived carrying a tourniquet.

“Both of their actions may very well have saved this woman’s life,” Seroka said.

Both women were taken to Hennepin County Medical Center with non-life-threatening injuries.

Seroka said the robbery happened in a “well-lit, well-traveled” area and is an unusual occurrence. Surveillance video from a few blocks away caught the suspect passing the women, then turning around and following them. The video did not capture the attack.

Minneapolis police are still searching for the suspect.