Thousands alerted at UMass after attack on student
University of Massachusetts Amherst officials alerted thousands of people in the academic community after a student reported being attacked this weekend.
At about 5:15 p.m. Sunday, a female student was attacked while walking from the library to her residence hall, said university spokesman Daniel Fitzgibbons.
While walking alone next to Herter Hall, an academic building, the student was approached by a man who asked if she wanted a ride home. When she refused the offer, he pulled her by the backpack she was wearing, pushed her against a wall and tried to assault her, Fitzgibbons said.
The student was able to escape without being injured and called campus police about 20 minutes later.
Police searched the area and were unable to find the attacker, who was described as a white male, about 6 feet 2 inches tall, with a large nose, “bushy eyebrows,’’ and a scruffy beard. He was wearing a black hooded sweatshirt with white strings on it and dark-colored jeans.
After police searched the area, the university released an alert, sending out 35,000 emails and 20,000 text messages. The attacker has not been found.
Fitzgibbons said that because of final exams taking place this week, there were probably fewer people walking around campus whose presence could have deterred the attack.
The police department has stepped up patrols since the incident and added more plainclothes officers and undercover cruisers on duty, Fitzgibbons said.
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