Armed robbery at credit union on University of Houston campus, leaves students on edge

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — Police at the University of Houston’s campus are searching for the man they say robbed the TDECU credit union on campus at gunpoint on Wednesday.

The same crime happened on campus back in October. The FBI released surveillance photos of the suspect last month.

Students told ABC13 the latest cougar campus crook left them on edge.

“Any time you hear about somebody with a gun on campus, it certainly makes you feel very uncomfortable, at least for me,” graduate student Tyler Evin said.

The credit union location was temporarily closed on Thursday; however, authorities would not confirm if it was closed due to the robbery, but said employee safety is their top priority.

“The safety and security of our members and employees remain our highest priority. We are actively partnering with law enforcement and security experts to ensure we provide the safest environment possible,” a spokesperson with TDECU said.

Other graduate students said the alert left them feeling uneasy.

“It’s pretty concerning stuff, you don’t like to hear that on your campus,” graduate student Gerardo Villanueva said.

“It’s concerning, especially as a woman, that there’s a bunch of like armed robberies going on and stuff like that, and as he (Villanueva) said, like, I want to come here knowing that it’s a safe area,” graduate student Katherine Belleau said.

Villanueva adds he hopes their cost of attendance can contribute to campus safety.

“It’s pretty ridiculous, a lot of stuff is not really in our control, it’s kind of hard to mitigate everything or take precautions for every little thing. But, yeah, you just want to see, I think at the bare minimum some changes come on, maybe increase security or increase awareness, whatever we can do,” said Villanueva.

All of the higher education students told ABC13 that, especially with their unique schedules, they want to see more police presence at all times.

“I would like to have more security, especially since we’re grad students, sometimes we are on campus late at night, and just to have like a safer piece of mind, especially in the parking garage and parking lots,” Belleau said.

“Obviously, I’d like to see more of a presence on campus, I feel like, from what I’ve seen, there isn’t enough being done to make their presence known,” Evin said.

A University of Houston spokesperson sent ABC13 this statement:

“Both cases are currently under investigation. To protect the integrity of the investigative process, we do not have additional information to provide at this time. UHPD is coordinating closely with the FBI and relevant authorities.”

Additionally, after an aggravated sexual assault on campus last year, authorities said campus safety changes are underway.

Since March 2025, campus authorities said they’ve made lighting and visibility improvements, increased police presence and staffing, working on expanding UHPD presence by adding a substation, enhanced security cameras, upgrading call for assistance stations, and more.

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