Safety Alert

#2005-1

March 31, 2005

Simple Assault
[Pitt Campus]

University Police were notified this afternoon by Pittsburgh City Police that a CMU student was shot in the arm with a pellet gun early this morning while walking through the University of Pittsburgh campus in South Oakland.

At approximately 2:30 a.m. on Thursday, March 31 st, a male student was walking alone in the 3900 block of Forbes Avenue when a black male passenger in a passing car fired two shots at him from a pellet gun, striking the victim in the left forearm. The victim refused medical treatment following the incident. No description was available of either the suspect who fired the shots or the vehicle in which he was riding. Police surmise this was a purely random event and may have been connected with two other acts of vandalism involving a pellet gun that occurred early this morning on Fifth Avenue and in the 4900 block of Forbes Avenue in front of Morewood Towers prior to the above assault.

If you have any information about this case, please call Carnegie Mellon University Police at (412) 268-2323 or City Police at 911 immediately! Refer to case #50372.

Although this crime occurred some distance from main campus, because many of our students frequent the area of Oakland where this assault occurred, University Police felt it important to keep you informed so that you might take whatever steps you deem necessary to ensure your safety and the safety of your friends when off campus.

CRIME PREVENTION TIPS:

• Stay alert to your surroundings at all times
• Never walk alone after dark, even in areas near campus with which you are familiar. Practice the “buddy system” – take a friend or roommate along!
• Ride the CMU Shuttle or Escort system at night.