According to the UNMPD report, the victim was able to fight off her attacker by kicking him in the groin, after which he fled the scene in an unknown direction.
The suspect was described as a white male, 5’6” in height, wearing a black hoodie. The victim did not know the suspect and was unable to give a better description of him, according to the report.
On Thursday afternoon a full security alert was sent out as a text message to all students and faculty, and was posted on UNM’s website. The alert read:
“Attempted sexual assault Zimmerman Library 2/10 6:30 PM. Suspect was white male 5’6” black hoodie, jeans and armed with a knife; fled on foot. Be Aware.”
UNMPD public information officer Lt. Tim Stump said there is an ongoing investigation into the incident. He urged anyone with relevant information to call UNMPD at 277-2241, or to send in an anonymous tip at police.unm.edu.
“We’ve obviously increased our patrols in that area during the evening hours,” Stump said. “We ask that all students — anybody walking around campus anywhere — to remain vigilant and be aware of their surroundings.”
The text alert caused some confusion on campus, leading many to believe the event had just occurred. According to the police report, the victim waited until Wednesday to report the attack, and the alert was not sent out until the next day.
“There was a delay in reporting the incident, and unfortunately that added to a delay in getting the word out on campus,” Stump said. “We’d like to remind everyone that all incidents should be reported to us as quickly as possible.”
The report states that the victim waited to report the incident because “she didn’t want anyone to know, since she didn’t have a good description of him and was afraid people would think she was making it up.”
The victim told some male friends about the attack according to the report, but none of them called it in, either.
The attending officer informed the victim of the medical and counseling resources available to her.
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Although the attack was reported Wednesday, a day after the event, the security alert was not sent out until Thursday afternoon.
Sarah Peceny, a Spanish and Portuguese graduate student, said she was confused when she read the text alert.
“I thought it was an event that had just occurred and we were being informed about what had just happened,” Peceny said. “Why are we hearing about it right now and not before, so that we could be paying a bit more attention as we were walking around?”
Rico Gonzales, a history graduate student, said he was shocked when he read the text, since he spends a good deal of time at Zimmerman. He said he felt less threatened than female students might, as they are typically the targets of sexual assault.
“I know that UNM is under a lot of pressure for not reporting sexual assaults,” Gonzales said. “I imagine they are practicing due diligence and trying not to have that reputation that they currently have.”
Stump said he hopes students will call UNMPD and ask for a police escort if they are walking on campus at night and feel unsafe. He said that LoboGuardian, the new University security app available for free, would be a useful tool to report incidents or request escorts. He said students must take the initiative to download the app and use it, however.
“It’s still an app that has to be utilized. They have to open the app and get to it for it to be useful,” Stump said. “I’m just glad that the victim fought and was able to get away.”
Jonathan Baca is the news editor at the Daily Lobo. He can be contacted at news@dailylobo.com, or on Twitter @JonGabrielB.
