Students at Rowan University are expressing outrage after video showing two students being cuffed at gunpoint hit social media.

But police in South Jersey are defending the actions of the officers who stopped a car with two Rowan University students in it with their guns drawn last week.

It is believed the students were the victims of an incorrect report of an armed robbery that never happened.

Rowan senior Altaif Hassan and freshman Giavanna Roberson told NJ.com that they were praying and terrified when Glassboro police officers stopped their car on Monday.

The moment was captured by bystanders, who took smartphone video.

Police said no gun was found and the students complied with officers' commands.

Bodycam video released by the chief of police on Wednesday shows the origins of the encounter.

Officers were in a nearby strip mall on an unrelated shoplifting call when a citizen burst in to tell them he had seen a man with a gun.

Police Chief Franklin S. Brown Jr. said in a statement, "Officers have an obligation to investigate when this type of information is provided regarding a serious threat of an alleged armed subject in our community for the safety of all involved, including the people that are subject of the investigation."

According to police, there was no armed robbery or 911 call reporting one. Police said they did not stop the wrong car.

At a forum at Rowan University on Friday, Hassan said he believes he was racially profiled.

Activists want the state attorney general to take over the investigation.