Student stabbed in Lincoln Park
A DePaul student was assaulted and stabbed on the 1200 block of West Webster Avenue on Tuesday, April 10, according to the Chicago Police Department.
The student, 21, was walking toward the Fullerton CTA stop at around 10:53 p.m. when her attacker grabbed her in a choke hold from behind, police said. He then stabbed her multiple times in the neck, head, wrist and face before fleeing eastbound on Webster, according to the police report. The knife blade broke off inside the victim’s head and was subsequently recovered by a CPD evidence technician, according to the report.
The offender was described in a CPD alert as being 5-foot-9 and wearing a black hoodie and baggy black pants.
According to the CPD alert, the victim never spoke to the perpetrator and was unaware she was being followed. None of her belongings were taken during the incident, according to the police report.
She was transported to Illinois Masonic Hospital in serious condition but has since been released.
DePaul Public Safety sent out an alert the morning after the incident.
“I tried my best to defend myself and protect my body,” the student wrote in a Facebook post. “Unfortunately, I had some pretty serious injuries, including severe damage to my hand that required surgery and will also require extensive physical therapy.”
A friend of the student set up a GoFundMe to help pay for medical bills, which has raised more than $4,000 as of print time.
According to the GoFundMe, during the attack “the knife sliced into her wrist and cut all of the ligaments in her hand, and part of the nerve that controls sensation in the fingers.” Doctors repaired the nerve and ligament but will not know if she will be able to regain sensation in her fingers for months, according to the fundraising page.
President A. Gabriel Esteban has said the university is looking at increasing public safety foot patrols and adding cameras on campus to better protect DePaul’s students.
CPD is encouraging anyone with information to call area detectives at (312)-747-8380.
Thomas • Apr 22, 2018 at 4:49 pm
private patrols walk in groups.
a far cry from what depaul was years ago.
and again, i blame technology (for causing people to become crazy) and yes.
as my father who has passed said, there is more violence now in nature.
none of this was around back in the late 80’s and early 90’s.
only a FEW occurrences, and yes. they were bad enough!
Kim Anderson • Apr 20, 2018 at 10:13 am
Tragic. Although students and parents know this is a city campus and things can happen in the blocks around campus, it would be great if DePaul could police a wider perimeter around the campus.
The area where this happened is SUPER close to campus. My daughter has a number of friends that live right above Sweet Mandy B’s on Webster (which is where this happened). Since DePaul only guarantees housing freshman year many of the students are forced to live in the areas “off campus”, so increased security in the mile radius around the campus seems like a necessity.
When we were looking at colleges we toured a number of urban campuses. Most police and patrol more than just the campus. USC had one of the most comprehensive security programs if you want to talk to their campus police unit about their protocol. Thank you for keeping our kids safe!