BLOOMINGTON, IN (WTHR) - Indiana University students are looking
over their shoulders and campus police are looking for a man who
sexually assaulted a student outside his dorm. The victim, a 19-year-old
man, told police he was out at 5:00 am Thursday morning, moving his car
to avoid getting a parking ticket.
The attack occurred in the parking lot of
Eigenmann residence hall on the east side of the Bloomington campus. The
victim says his attacker walked up and asked a question about the dorm.
IU Police Chief Keith Cash described what happened next.
"When [the student] responded, the unknown male
grabbed his head, slammed it against the car, put a knife to his throat
and the male was sexually assaulted," said the police chief.
The student called police. His attacker ran off before they arrived.
Across the Bloomington campus, IU students woke up
to crime alerts and safety warnings flashed to their smart phones and
computers.
Kyle Hardwick, a muscular and fit-looking freshman, called the crime unnerving.
"Weapons can equalize a fight very quickly. That fact that a knife was involved unnerved me," he explained.
Students who say they've become accustomed to IU's
frequent warnings to look out for their own personal safety were taken
aback as well.
The crime, its brutality and victim, a man, are extraordinary.
Ryan Felt is a senior who works in the residence hall and lives nearby.
"I was alone walking past two in the morning."
And when he saw the alert?
"That definitely changes going forward." Felt says "going forward," he won't be going out late alone any more.
Megan Forgey says she won't be either. "I was
thinking about tonight, because I am going to a study session until
10:30. I am planning who I am going to walk home with." The freshman
quickly enrolled in the IU safety alert system..
IU Police have only a vague description of the attacker: A black male, 6'2", with long hair, 22 to 30 years old.
The victim was treated and released from the
hospital. Investigators hope that security cameras in the area can
provide them with a better description and more clues leading them to an
arrest. If you saw anything or have any information about this attack,
you are asked to call IU Police.
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