Columbia, SC (WLTX) -- Several incidents may have students at the University of South Carolina and their parents thinking more about safety.
Maddy Smith and Megan Comalander are sophomores at USC. Early Tuesday morning, they said they were sleeping as a text alert hit their phones warning them about a report of a person robbed, and hit with a baseball bat just outside their windows.
"If I was up, I could see it out my window," Smith said.
"This morning, right when I woke up, I put my pepper spray in my book bag," Comalander said.
That incident was the latest at the school of more than 30,000 students. In the first, a man was arrested for indecent exposure. Next, investigators say a student was robbed at gun point on the horseshoe. The victim in that incident was forced back to their dorm for money.
Investigators arrested Kevin O'Neal in relation to that incident.
Sunday, students were sent alerts about a report of a gunman running through campus, however, no gunman was found.
University spokesman Wes Hickman said the university encompasses an area of about 15 square blocks that 70 university cops patrol on campus.
Columbia police patrol off campus areas, and Hickman says that arrangement works.
"We believe that the force we have can control the area of campus," Hickman said. "If there are incidents that occur that necessitate one agency assisting another, than we do that. We have a mutual agreement between the two agencies."
Over the past three years, Hickman said growing enrollment has forced the school to allocate close to $2 million to the school's police force.
School President Harris Pastides said in a letter they are adding uniformed and plain clothed officers around campus. As to whether more police funding may be needed, Hickman left that open.
"It's a conversation that he'll have with the board of trustees and with our chief of police to make sure that we have the resources necessary to meet the demand," Hickman said.
But Matt Tenenbaum, a senior, wasn't worried.
"In general, this happens every year," Tenenbaum "You get a couple flare-ups right at the beginning of the semester, and then it mellows out over the next coming weeks."
Hickman said they're evaluating whether more emergency call boxes may be needed, as well.
Meanwhile, students told us today they worry about parking on the outer areas of campus. Students are being encouraged to rely on the university's shuttle services for relief.
