Assault of 9-year-old boy 'not as serious' as feared
The incident of a 9-year-old boy assaulted by teenagers in a University of Minnesota building appears to have been less shocking than originally reported.
The University of Minnesota Police Department (UMPD) issued a crime alert on Monday, Aug. 4 after a 9-year-old boy was assaulted in a restroom at the Carlson School of Management, 321 19th Ave. S. The alert stated that “three suspects attacked the boy, striking and injuring him with a plastic garbage can.”
After speaking to the boy’s father, UMPD police have found that the incident was a little different than originally reported. “It’s still serious, but not as serious,” said Lt. Chuck Miner of the UMPD. Miner said that the suspects — all described as black males of East African descent in their teens, with an average height of five feet, eight inches tall and medium builds — threw a garbage can over top of a stall door and then ran out. “The stall door was not kicked open, there was no direct contact between the suspects and victim,” said Miner, adding that said the boy’s father described it as a “horse play situation.”
The suspects could still be charged with assault, Miner said. Anyone with information about the incident is asked to contact the University of Minnesota Police Department at 612-624-COPS (2677).
The Aug. 4 UMPD crime alert states:
The three suspects were all described as black males of East African descent in their teens, with an average height of five feet, eight inches tall and medium builds. One of the suspects was wearing a white t-shirt. A second suspect was wearing a red or maroon checked shirt. The third suspect was wearing a blue and white striped shirt. The suspects fled off of campus. University Facilities Management workers gave chase to the suspects, the suspects were last seen west bound from the 400 block of Cedar Avenue South.
In the alert, the UMPD notes that “racial descriptors alone are not a valid reason to profile or cast suspicion on an individual.”
You can read other UMPD crime alerts and more about crime on the university campus here
last revised: August 6, 2008