As the UNMPD works on the case of an alleged rape that reportedly took place on Sept. 18 at Lobo Village, residents of the complex claim they were shocked by the lack of proper communication about the incident from Lobo Village administrators and the University.
Students said there was confusion among the residents with regard to the incident. A majority of the students living there were informed via news media or “word of mouth.”
Shayla Cunico, a freshman nursing major, said she was shocked by the incident in that she didn’t find out about it until the following Wednesday, almost a week after.
“We need to have some type of alert, even if it is (a day after) the report of the incident or a while after,” she said. “I think they should have sent an alert, and the students did not have to find out from friends (by) word of mouth. It would have been nice to learn through the University. Everyone was pretty shocked and pretty angry.”
She said that nobody knew what had happened until the news was spread by local media.
KOB-TV reported Friday that UNMPD was investigating an alleged rape at Lobo Village. The news channel quoted UNMPD officials as saying that a woman reported to police that she was sexually assaulted when she met the offender at Lobo Village on UNM’s south campus.
The police said they apprehended the individual the next day.
Ryan Hanson, a sophomore athletic training major, said the Lobo Village administration made too small a deal out of it by not letting them know.
“I got the information through Albuquerque news sources,” he said. “It would be nice if someone let us know what is going on. It would have been good for people living in Lobo Village, had the administration of the housing complex or the University informed the residents.”
He said he respected the privacy of the victim, and understands the situation, “but it seems there should be more going on.”
On their part, University officials said that since the offender was known and had been detained relatively quickly, there was no need to issue a Lobo Alert. Dianne Anderson, director of media relations at the UNM, said that in this case a LoboAdvisory was not necessary because the people involved in the incident had all been identified by police.
“This was not a ‘stranger danger’ situation,” she said. “The people in the case were all acquainted.”
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Anderson said that the incident at Lobo Village was logistically different from the various groping cases that have occurred on campus in recent weeks. Because of that, there was different protocol.
“A reported sexual assault could be considered a LoboAdvisory if there is an unknown suspect on campus who poses an ‘ongoing threat to students, staff, faculty and/or visitors.’ The recent groping cases fall into that category because the offender ran off and could have attacked again,” she said.
Lt. Tim Stump, a UNMPD spokesman, said the case is being prepared for the District Attorney’s Office for consideration of prosecution.
Sayyed Shah is the assistant news editor at the Daily Lobo. He can be contacted at assistant-news@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @mianfawadshah.
