Female students are exhibiting fear toward the attempted assault, which occurred Friday at approximately 6:40 p.m.
According to campus police, a female student was walking to her car in the lower level of the Lot F parking structure while listening to music when an unidentified suspect came from behind, covered her mouth with their left hand and placed their right hand on her inner left thigh.
The victim elbowed the suspect and screamed, prompting the suspect to run. The victim, however, did not manage to clearly see the suspect or in which direction they ran. The only description is that the suspect was wearing gray pants and white tennis shoes and their hands strongly smelled of tobacco product.
The incident is not believed to be connected with the two previous assaults which occurred in November and in May.
The campus police are now positioning cadets in the parking structure to prevent future incidents.
“This should put people more on the alert. People need to be aware of what’s going on around them,” Mike Trevis, EC police chief, said. “The challenge is that there’s so much technology and people get so into whatever it is they are doing, so that causes distractions.”
“(Campus police) would rather come out there and have it be nothing than not be informed and have it turn into something bad,” Trevis said.
Students are urged to be alert, use the “buddy system” and find out the locations of the emergency blue phones, which can be used to help police find suspects and react more quickly to a situation.
Despite these precautions, however, students are still fearful for their safety.
“It makes me feel really unsafe to know someone was attacked at the school I attend,” Nikki Ouellette, psychology major, said. “I just keep thinking: ‘It could’ve been me.'”
Other students, especially those taking night classes, have already began taking precautions since the first incident occurred.
“I have a class from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m., so I’m scared,” Danielle Sandoval, accounting major, said. “I wait for my dad to pick me up, so I always wait by the police station or by the blue phones in case something happens.”
Students are reminded, however, that if ever they must walk alone, to call the police escort service to take them to their car.
“You should always walk with someone, and if you can’t, call the shuttle service,” Trevis said. “Also, if a student is walking on campus and they go to an area and notice there’s no one there, they should avoid those areas and especially report something if they feel uncomfortable.”
Despite these accommodations and new security cameras, students still feel uncomfortable because of the rate in which these attacks are occurring.
“There were two rapes and one more attack. We always see police by the bookstore, but not by the gym where they need to be. They’ve installed new cameras, yet the attack still took place,” Kelly Manning, undecided major, said.
Others feel as though while they would like to see more police around campus, the attacks may have been at the fault of the students.
“First of all, I wouldn’t be walking to the parking lot by myself at night listening to music. That’s the first mistake,” Laquida Water, cosmetology major, said. “But I do think there needs to be more police in the underground level of the structure. I never see any.”
Anyone who witnessed the incident or has any information is asked to inform campus police and if any other such incident occurs, to not wait to report it.
“The longer you wait, further behind it puts us in catching the person,” Trevis said. “I understand that people gets scared, traumatized and embarrassed, but it betters our chances of catching the person if we know right away.”
