Updated on Tuesday, Oct. 3 at 4:50 p.m.
Baltimore County Police responded Monday to an incident in one of Stevenson University’s residence halls, prompting the University to place the campus on lockdown starting at about 6:15 p.m.
There was a heavy police presence including a helicopter and at least seven police cars convening at Ratcliffe before racing down the hill to Wooded Way. Officers entered Wooded Way before heading back up the hill, stopping once again in the Patapsco Residence Hall parking lot.
Officers proceeded to perform sweeps of multiple residence halls including Wooded Way, Herring Run, and Susquehanna.
Stevenson confirmed through social media Monday night that police were in pursuit of at least one suspect following an altercation. Baltimore County police posted on X (Twitter) that they will continue to investigate the incident.
Jim Mustard, assistant vice president for campus safety, confirmed that police completed their final sweep of campus and the shelter-in-place order is lifted as of shortly after 8 p.m. Police have since left campus.
John Buettner, vice president of marketing and digital communications, issued a statement Tuesday at 4:19 p.m. through email regarding the incident.
“Yesterday’s incident appears to be related to a relationship issue and involved two SU students and a non-student who was known by one of the students,” Buettner wrote. “The non-student (allegedly) assaulted one of the SU students, and the SU student then came to the Office of Campus Safety to report the assault and seek medical attention.”
Campus Safety was able to get the student medical attention and contacted the BCPD to aid in the investigation, Buettner wrote. Stevenson issued the shelter-in-place to allow police to perform their search of campus to ensure its safety. The situation never involved an active shooter, but police needed time to interview witnesses and gather information to continue the investigation, Buettner wrote.
BCPD are still in search of the suspect, but they no longer feel that they pose a threat to the campus.
The student victim has since gone home to recover with his family, Buettner wrote.
Monday’s events alarmed all members of the Stevenson community, especially the students in the very residence halls being searched.
Junior Wooded Way resident Cody Hanna arrived to go back to his room when he was met with a shocking surprise.
“We got stopped by at least seven cops and two RDs and they told us we had to go back to our room,” Hanna said. “I saw two guys sitting on the ground in handcuffs and I had to explain to the cops that I lived across the hall so they would let me go and they were really aggressive about [letting me by].”
Hanna and the rest of the students at Stevenson were not expecting something like this to take place on a random weeknight.
“It was kind of a reality check. It’s Stevenson, you know, there’s not always a lot going on,” Hanna said. “You really never know.”
We will continue to update this story as we learn more.
