College party escalates into riot
Police used pepper spray and tear gas to break up an off-campus party at James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Va. on Saturday, after about 8,000 college-aged partygoers refused orders to disperse.
Police said they arrested dozens of people at the annual three-day block party — called Springfest — when protesters began throwing beer bottles at officers and lighting fires in nearby trash bins.
The party began Friday night at a Townhome complex several blocks from the university, and swelled to more than 8,000 people by Saturday afternoon.
By 4 p.m., police declared the scene an unlawful assembly and called for backup. At 6 p.m., about 200 officers — many in full riot gear — descended on the crowd.
Thousands of partygoers acquiesced and left, but about 1,000 put up a fight and began pelting officers with glass bottles. That’s when the officers deployed the pepper spray and tear gas to disperse the remaining crowd.
Georgetown student reports sex assault in dorm A Georgetown University student reported she was sexually assaulted in her on-campus dorm Friday night, according to Metro police.
The student told police she walked to the dorm basement around 6 p.m., when a man she did not know began following her. The man called, “Hey girl,” and pushed her against a wall, putting one hand over her mouth and the other up her shirt, according to the report.
A string of sexual assaults have been reported in the Georgetown area over the past couple years involving an offender dubbed the “Georgetown Snuggler.” With such incidents, women have reported waking up with a strange man in their dorm beds. This latest incident has not yet been linked to the “Georgetown Snuggler,” police said.
Stabbing on GW campus A person was stabbed in the arm early Sunday morning on the George Washington University campus following a verbal altercation, according to Metro police.
The victim, who was not a university student, was taken to a nearby hospital with minor wounds. The incident happened around 1:30 a.m. as a large crowd of people exited a Multicultural Greek Council event on the 600 block of 21st Street.
– Compiled by Hayley Peterson
