Student Threatened With Knife in Harbin
A freshman was allegedly threatened last week by a suspect with a knife in his room and later received a voicemail on his cell phone from the same suspect threatening his life, according to reports filed with the Department of Public Safety and the Metropolitan Police Department.
According to the DPS report, the suspect entered the complainant’s room in Harbin Hall at 3:29 a.m. on Feb. 8 and threatened him with a knife. The report also says that at the same time, the complainant, whose name is being withheld due to the ongoing police investigation, received an unsolicited voicemail containing threats on his life. DPS Sergeant Joseph Smith said that the suspect physically confronted the complainant in his room before leaving the voicemail.
The MPD report classified the incident as felony threat and assault with a dangerous weapon. According to the report, the suspect threatened to kill the complainant in a voicemail.
According to the report, “[The suspect] stated in the message that she owns a switchblade, and if [the complainant] ever went near her friend again that she would come to [the complainant’s] room, slit his throat and watch him bleed to death.”
The MPD report noted that the perpetrator was suspected of being under the influence of alcohol at the time of the incidents. The suspect is described as an 18-year-old white female with a light complexion, approximately 5 feet, 8 inches tall and 125 pounds with brown hair.
The MPD report only describes the voicemail left on the complainant’s phone and makes no mention of a physical confrontation and says that no weapons were used in the alleged incident. However, it categorizes the event as an assault with a dangerous weapon (knife) and felony threats.
DPS has not sent out a Public Safety Announcement about the assault or the threat. Smith said the incident was isolated and does not pose a threat to campus safety.
University spokesperson Julie Bataille said in an e-mail that university officials were taking action with the involved parties.
“I’m aware that the incident has been handled appropriately through the Student Code of Conduct process, which is confidential by nature. I know that staff in the Office[s] of Student Affairs and Residence Life have followed up with individuals involved to provide support as necessary,” she said.
The complainant declined to comment for this report, and MPD officials could not be reached for comment.
Feb 20 2009 at 3:45 p.m.
Freshmen: When she tells you that she is 'fun and crazy' please be aware that she is probably just crazy, and that after that drunken one night stand fueled by a lukewarm case of Keystone that you had in your Costco minifridge just for that night you got 'lucky,' her crazy-ass friend will probably come after you and try to castrate you.
Feb 22 2009 at 5:21 p.m.
A bit of a double-standard is revealed through this article.
When The Hoya reports non-life-threatening assaults and thefts by unidentified black males, these cases are deemed by the Office of Public Safety to be "threats to the campus safety" and referred to MPD for criminal prosecution.
Here, we have a white female physically threatening the life of a student with a deadly weapon, and backing that threat up with verbal threats. But in this case, the case is not deemed a threat to public safety, no public safety announcement is issued to the campus at-large, and rather than threatening the white female with criminal prosecution and possible jail time, she and the victim are offered "support."
Regardless of discussions about what kinds of consequences are judged to be appropriate for such violations, these consequences should be applied uniformly and fairly, regardless of whether the alleged perpetrator is a black male who may or may not be a member of the campus community, or a white female Georgetown University student. The university has a moral and civic obligation to act in accordance with justice, and this article suggests that this obligation is not being met.
Feb 23 2009 at 6:13 a.m.
I disagree. The circumstances of this case are different from the other cases to which you are referring. This appears to be a case of a drunk girl making drunken comments to a particular individual for a particular reaon inside a residence hall. It was an isolated incident and the public at large is not threatened. The alleged crimes involving black males typically occur outdoors and involve people robbing/assaulting random strangers. There is a significant risk of the perpetrators committing another crime of similar nature in the future, so it is considered a threat to campus safety. The perpetrators are not motivated by feelings toward a particular individual, but by greed or whatever causes them to rob people.
Furthermore, as this article clearly states, the case WAS reported to MPD.
Stop trying to play the race card and consider the facts of the cases.