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Series of Assaults on Columbia Students Near Campus
By
Jen Chung
Published Oct 15, 2008
Modified Oct 15, 2008
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By
Jen Chung
Published Oct 15, 2008
Modified Oct 15, 2008
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The Columbia Spectator reported that Columbia University's Office of Public Safety issued an alert (though not all students received it) about seven students being assaulted on last Sunday night near campus: "Though the alert...offered no information about whether the assaults might be connected, it did provide some consistent detail. Each of the students was physically assaulted and reported 'being approached and/or surrounded by a group of five to seven' males in their twenties." One student was apparently robbed. The Daily News had the most thorough details on the attacks:
The brutality started at 12:13 a.m. at Amsterdam Ave. and W. 112th St. in Morningside Heights when the pack punched a 30-year-old man, giving him a black eye.
Just two minutes later, a 31-year-old man was punched but not seriously hurt at Broadway and W. 113th St.
The next victims were attacked at Amsterdam Ave. and W. 114th St., where a 21-year-old man was shoved to the ground and a 21-year-old woman was shoved and grabbed. About 12:25 a.m. at Amsterdam Ave. and W. 116th St., a man, 26, was punched in the head so hard he needed 12 stitches.
The spree ended about 12:30 a.m. at Amsterdam Ave. and W. 120th St., where two men, ages 27 and 28, were punched in the face. One needed stitches for his mouth.
of whether victims were targeted, reporting that five of the six male victims are Asian; the only female assaulted is also Asian.
Westside Crime Prevention Program executive director Marjorie Cohen told the Spectator that student shouldn't panic but reminded them to be aware, “The cell phones and the iPods are a problem because people are just not concentrating." Security near the school became a bigger issue earlier this year, when a graduate student was mugged and chased into oncoming traffic by a 13-year-old; the student later died.
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assault
attacks
college students
columbia university
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morningside heights
Jen Chung
Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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