Students are on edge after Boston University sent out a safety alert about two disturbing incidents as campus police work to determine whether they’re connected.
“I’m glad we got the alert when we did because I then texted all my friends and checked up on all of them who are living in that area,” said Grace, a Boston University student.
In the first incident, police said a Boston University student fought off a stranger who forced his way into the student’s apartment and sexually assaulted them Friday night. In the second incident, a male driving a pickup truck followed three students aggressively, trying to give them a ride.
Police are looking for the person responsible for a sexual assault on the Boston University campus and investigating whether it is related to another case in which students were followed.
The two incidents were reported nine minutes apart, according to a community alert from BU police Saturday.
The student who was sexually assaulted called police at 11:45 p.m. The stranger, a man in his 20s to 30s with a black backpack, sexually assaulted the student in their apartment — police didn’t give the location — before the student fought them off. The attacker has not been located.
The students who were followed by the person in the truck alerted police from an emergency call box at South Campus 11:54 p.m. The driver had followed them from Granby Street in a new grey or silver Ford pickup truck. Police haven’t found the driver but released an image of the truck.
Anyone who has information about the incidents is asked to call Boston University police at 617-353-2121 or sharing information anonymously by texting “BU” to TIP411 (847911).
Sex assault resources are available at the National Sexual Violence Resources Center and the National Sexual Assault Telephone Hotline at 800-656-4673. Since it was first created in 1994, the National Sexual Assault Hotline has helped more than two million people, according to its website.
