A female visiting Warren Towers reported she was sexually assaulted in a bathroom early yesterday morning, prompting Boston University to heighten security in the campus’s most populated dormitory.
The victim – who is not a BU student – told the BU Police Department yesterday she was attacked by a white male at 3:30 a.m. in the bathroom on the all-girls 16th floor of Shields Tower, school officials said at a meeting in Warren’s Cinema Room that was attended by more than 100 concerned students.
The BUPD has assigned forensics squads and officers “specially trained in rape investigations” to identify possible suspects, according to an email sent to the community by Dean of Students Kenneth Elmore and BUPD Chief Thomas Robbins.
The victim, who was taken to Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center after the attack, described her assailant as a white male in his early 20s, 5 feet 10 inches tall and weighing 170 pounds, Robbins said at the meeting. Police are unsure if the attacker is a BU student.
The victim also told police the suspect had an athletic build, a dark tan and shoulder-length wavy brown hair. He was wearing white sneakers, blue jeans and a bright-blue T-shirt, she said.
Administrators urged students last night to share any information they have about the alleged incident, granting them complete anonymity and confidentiality.
“I truly hope someone comes forward,” Robbins said after the meeting.
The sexual assault is the third such incident reported to the BUPD in a week. A female reported she was sexually assaulted Sept. 22 after drinking at several fraternity parties, and another female reported she was assaulted in her Kenmore Square dorm room after allowing the suspect to stay over, according to crime logs.
The BUPD has assigned police officers to monitor the Warren lobby one at a time for 24 hours a day, and security guards as well as resident assistants will patrol in the towers throughout the night, Robbins said.
“[The lobby] is kind of a good position to be in to give access to all towers,” said Sgt. Jack St. Hilaire.
Police will review all information of Warren’s guests and will observe all surveillance footage to identify the suspect, Robbins said.
“I certainly hope people aren’t signing in people to buildings that they don’t know,” Elmore said. “We just hope someone might have seen something.”
Residents of 16C comforted each other last night after the meeting as some girls wept. They said they were shocked to hear about the assault because it could have happened to any of them.
The usually bustling Warren Towers took on a more cautious atmosphere after the meeting, residents said.
School of Hospitality freshman Alessandra Zanchi, who lives on the 18th floor of the tower, said it scared her to think a sexual assault could happen so close to her.
“My roommate and I never used to lock our doors,” she said. “We’re kind of freaking out. It’s just scary how people like that can get into the building.”
Officials also stressed the importance of signing up for the Send Word Now emergency system, saying if another serious incident occurs, the community can be notified quickly.
Office of Residence Life Director David Zamojski said counselors will be on hand for troubled students.
“To the students on the floor affected, we have two counselors,” he said at the meeting. “We will convene a meeting if you think that will be important.”
Student Health Services will work with ORL to offer counseling services for all students, including those unrelated to the incident, said SHS Director Dr. David McBride.
“Residence Life has a good sense of what will be needed,” McBride said. “We’re gearing up over the [coming] days as it sort of unfolds.
“I think it really shakes your sense of security,” he continued. “It’s an invasion.”
In September 1999, a BU freshman was sexually assaulted in a shower and again in her dorm room by a 33-year-old man, Abdelmajid Akouk, who broke into Loretta Hall – a BU-owned residence at Emmanuel College – and threatened her at knifepoint.
Akouk was convicted on six charges, including two counts of aggravated rape, and is serving the remainder of his 40 years in jail.
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