(NECN: Lauren Collins – Durham, N.H.) - Students found out about it in a campus wide email.
Freshman Marissa McCoo said she was glad to get the notice on one hand.
“I was like, ‘ahhh, I don't wanna go anywhere near there,’” she said.
Shortly after 9 Wednesday night, a young woman said she thought she heard a man call her name as she walked back to her dorm from Rudman Hall.
“They then approached her, grabbed her by the wrist, the other one put his hand over her mouth and dragged her to the ground,” said UNH Police Chief Paul Dean, who is not sure the men actually knew the woman.
One of the men then tried unsuccessfully to take her wallet.
“We don't think that they were gonna stop there but she fought the attackers off,” said Dean.
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She hit one in the face and was able to run back to her dorm and call police. They're now keeping an eye out for two college-aged, white men, both of whom were wearing dark hoodies, shorts and sneakers. One had long hair.
Chief Dean doesn't know if they were UNH students and calls this anomaly. There are currently no other cases like it in Durham or in nearby towns.
Police are interviewing the young woman again, as well as adding patrols all over campus.
“If somebody's doing this, they're certainly not maybe going to go back to the same area so I wanna make sure we're covering all our areas well,” said Chief Dean of the comprehensive approach.
“There's cops everywhere,” noticed Senior Mike Marinelli who thinks, “It's a nice sight.”
UNH Police offer a popular program called R.A.D. - rape aggression defense - as well as a 24 hour escort service. Students, too, take safety into their own hands.
“I always walk with groups,” said Freshman Cara Rascoe. “Like, I never walk to class by myself, ever.”
Junior Steve Masterson says the guys on campus are just as concerned. “We never let girls walk back by themselves and we usually make sure we're all together when we leave a party or whatever.”
The Chief says that’s a great tactic and encourages anyone who has any information on Wednesday night’s incident to call campus police.
