AMHERST - A second home invasion in four days on Meadow Street in which robbers entered the residence brandishing what looked like a handgun is being investigated by police.

Police took a report Monday at 10:42 p.m. that four masked men, each wearing sweatshirts, forced their way through the back door of a Meadow Street home and attempted to take a gaming console, laptop, cell phone and other electronic equipment.

"One had what appeared to be a handgun, and one resident was struck with that," said Sgt. Bill Menard of the police detective bureau.

The victim, a college-age man, was transported by Amherst Fire Department ambulance to Cooley Dickinson Hospital in Northampton, where he was treated and released, police said.

The incident is similar to one reported to police Friday at 11:42 p.m., in which another Meadow Street home, also occupied by college students, was entered by three men, one of whom held a handgun. Those three men left with a laptop and $100 in cash.

All of the items taken in the second robbery, as well as a BB gun that may have been the handgun seen by the victims, was recovered outside the home, Menard said. The suspects apparently left the items behind after getting into a physical struggle with the residents.

Menard said it is unknown if the two robberies are connected.