CHARLOTTE, N.C. - Two UNC-Charlotte students were robbed at gunpoint early Thursday morning near a loading dock behind the student union.

Campus Police Chief Jeffrey Baker says the students were robbed after leaving a research lab around 1:40am.

"When it was safe they activated a blue light phone, and that goes straight to our dispatch," says Baker, whose department also alerted CMPD to the on-campus robbery.

The suspects got away with the students' laptops and cell phones, driving off in a gray Ford Focus.

No one was injured, police say, and clarify, while scary and very serious, Thursday's robbery was the first one on campus in three years.

"In the 16th largest city in America, that's not bad," says Baker.

CMPD arrested three men around 6 a.m. Thursday, after they say the suspects robbed a 7-Eleven convenience store on Brookshire Blvd.

Arrested are Lester McClendon, II, DOB: 06/28/1996, Jwuan Horton, DOB: 05/13/1998, and Ulondis R-quan Edwards, DOB: 09/10/1999; they all face charges of Armed Robbery with a Dangerous Weapon.

Thursday's attack comes on the heels of two sexual assaults reported on and near the UNC Charlotte campus, Sunday, Feb. 4.

Around 8 a.m. that day, police say a woman was sexually assaulted and groped at 1511 Darryl McCall Circle. 

About eight hours later, around 4 p.m., a woman in her 40's was assaulted in the parking garage of the University Crossings Apartment Complex, on University City Blvd, in a similar manner.

In that instance, police say, the suspect grabbed the woman's buttocks and breasts, then ran away.

The suspect in Sunday's assaults is believed to be the same person; he is described as a black man, with a thin build, around 20 years old and standing about 5'9".

Anyone with information about him or anyone who knows anything about the crimes, is asked to call 704-334-1600.