Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

New Area Crime Reported

New details emerged regarding a series of on- and off-campus assaults this week, even as university officials continued to warn students to be more careful outside Healy Gates.

The Metropolitan Police Department and the Department of Public Safety responded to an assault early Saturday morning in Henle Village, according to a DPS incident summary. The report said that the incident, which involved a student who was punched in the face and the head, is under investigation.

Meanwhile, university officials confirmed details regarding three crimes that occurred over Columbus Day weekend, including an armed robbery, a knife threat and an assault.

On Oct. 7 at about 3 a.m., two medical students were robbed at gunpoint while walking toward their car between 38th and 39th Streets off Reservoir Road, according to a DPS e-mail alert.

The three suspects approached the students, produced a gun and demanded money. One of the students gave the suspects her purse, at which point the suspects walked away and fled in a car, leaving the victims unharmed. The incident was reported to DPS on Monday, the e-mail said.

The two other incidents that weekend occurred on Georgetown’s campus.

According to Vice President for University Safety Dave Morrell and Department of Public Safety Director Darryl Harrison, students were threatened with a knife in Alumni Square early Oct. 8.

Morrell said that only students appeared to be involved in that incident, adding that the matter remains under investigation.

“DPS is aware of the names of all parties involved,” he said.

The second on-campus incident occurred on Oct. 10 at approximately 3:35am, Morrell said.

According to Morrell, a freshman was struck repeatedly in Henle Village and needed medical attention from GERMS.

Morrell added that the participants in the incident were students and that university officials knew who they were.

The three reported crimes come in the wake of several off-campus robberies DPS reported last weekend, including at least two that may have involved guns.

University officials said they believe that the robberies are related and said that they are part of a city-wide problem.

Morrell said that MPD believes the incidents are gang-related and involve a competition between teenage gangs to see who can rob the most victims. DPS recently released new statistics which showed a sharp increase in crime on and near campus.

Although the number and severity of the crimes may seem unusual, orrell said that they “are the same thing we saw last year around this time, the only difference is that teenagers are committing them.”

Many students said that they are still concerned about the recent increase in crime reports.

“I usually don’t walk by myself at night and now I have become more aware of other people in the area,” Drew Freeman (NHS ’08) said. “I also try to keep my cell phone available in case I should run into a problem.”

Harrison and Morrell emphasized that students should walk in groups of three or more and travel busier roads when coming home late at night. Students should also carry a minimal amount of cash, they said.

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