The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., is asking police for help in addressing crime concerns following recent violence on and around campus ahead of the new academic year.
Two fatal July shootings – one on campus and one near campus – and an assault on a recent graduate student have prompted concerns about violence near the school ahead of the new year.
"I don’t feel safe," MBA student Berke Akgul, who has been a student at CUA for 11 months, told WUSA9. "Sometimes I feel like should I change locations or should I go back to Turkey. I mean, education is important, but I'm alone here."
All three incidents appear to have stemmed from or around the Brookland-CUA Metro station near the university's urban campus in D.C.'s northeast quadrant. The coronavirus pandemic hit D.C.'s public transportation system hard, and it has struggled to fully recover in the years since.
The first fatal shooting occurred on July 5, when Maxwell Emerson, a 25-year-old Kentucky teacher visiting the nation's capital for a conference, walked from the Brookland-CUA metro stop to the university's campus.
Security camera footage shows Emerson first encountered the 22-year-old suspect in his death, Jaime Macedo, at the metro stop.
Emerson and Macedo appeared to walk toward CUA's campus together, at which point Macedo allegedly robbed Emerson at gunpoint and then shot him on CUA's Alumni Lane.
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Macedo had several prior convictions and at least four probation violations at the time of the July 5 incident, court documents show.
The second fatal shooting occurred on July 17, when police found a man deceased from a gunshot wound near CUA's campus at the intersection between 7th Street NE and Monroe Street. The shooting remains under investigation.
And on July 13, a recent CUA graduate student was walking home from the Brookland-CUA Metro station around 4:45 p.m. when a group of people attacked him, according to CUA. Police are investigating the incident.
University leadership has held meetings with D.C.'s Metropolitan Police Department to discuss increased security measures on campus and ask for more safety resources.
CUA President Dr. Peter Kilpatrick will hold a town hall meeting on July 26 at 10 a.m. to discuss safety concerns at the university.
"You have my personal commitment that I will pull every lever I can to create a safer place for our students, faculty, staff, and those who visit our campus," Kilpatrick said in a July 19 statement. "Please join me in continuing to pray for our campus community, for all who have been affected, and for an end to the violence affecting communities across our nation."
On July 20, CUA hosted a campus Mass for peace and healing following the recent string of violence.
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"We've… felt an extra burden this week, this month of sadness at the tragic loss of human life; the burden of added vigilance for ourselves, for our students, for our children; the burden of discord and maybe most of all, the burden of fear and all that it brings with it," the Rev. Bernard Knapke said during the Mass.
The school's Department of Public Safety (DPS) is also "increasing foot, vehicular, and bike patrols to raise visibility inside and along the perimeter of campus," Kilpatrick said in a July 14 letter following the assault on a graduate student. Additional security guards will be deployed on and around campus, including the Metro stop, he added.
"We will immediately begin to increase our armed officer presence on campus, and more DPS officers will be carrying authorized firearms. The necessary training, certifications, and credentialing have been ongoing, and we expect that there will be an armed DPS presence on every shift," the school president said.
In addition, new electronic keycard access points, which already appear on all residential buildings and some academic buildings, are being installed on more academic and administrative buildings throughout campus. The school also plans to hire a "full-time director for emergency services by the beginning of the fall semester."
The issue of violent crime in D.C. is not unique to CUA; violence has also impacted Howard University in the city's northwest quadrant. On July 13, Rafael Adolfo Gomez, a construction worker, was fatally shot outside the Howard University Hospital in what police believe started as an armed robbery attempt, according to FOX 5 D.C.
