A second-year College student remains hospitalized after sustaining head injuries in an altercation outside the Sigma Chi fraternity house early Saturday morning.
Though an official report from University Medical Center was not available at press time, friends who visited Carson Ward at the hospital yesterday said his condition has improved since Saturday, when he allegedly was struck by a brother of Sigma Chi in the early hours of the morning outside the fraternity house, located on the 600 block of Preston Place.
Charlottesville Police Sgt. Stephen Upman said he was instructed not to comment on the case, but that a press release will be issued today.
Second-year College student Daniel Tanner, a close friend who lives with Ward, said the incident spawned from a disagreement when he, Ward and a group of friends were trying to get into a Halloween party at Sigma Chi.
"Everybody just started yelling and pushing each other," Tanner said. "They were telling Carson to leave, and as he was leaving, he was hit from behind."
Ward hit his head on the pavement across the street from the fraternity after he was hit by a brother or brothers in Sigma Chi, Tanner said.
At that point, a crowd formed and the person or persons responsible allegedly rushed from the scene, Tanner said.
According to the Rescue Incident Dispatch Service, the Charlottesville Albemarle Rescue Squad received a 911 call at 1:09 a.m. Saturday which directed them to 1608 Grady Avenue, near the intersection of Grady and Preston Place. The ambulance arrived at 1:18 a.m.
Doctors performed surgery to remove one of two blood clots in Ward's brain and conducted both a CAT scan and an MRI yesterday, said a third-year College student who lives near Ward in Wertland Apartments.
The student, who spent several hours yesterday at the hospital with Ward's family and friends, said doctors plan to keep Ward for at least 10 days. She added that Ward is under sedation after briefly "coming to" Saturday.
Tanner said he has been interviewed by police officials, and that he has been told that Ward's parents are pressing charges.
Sigma Chi Counsel Jonathan Kelley declined to comment on the incident, other than that the fraternity is cooperating with police.
"There's an ongoing investigation," Kelley said.
Tanner, who spent most of Saturday and yesterday at the hospital, said doctors had to remove part of Ward's skull in order to perform surgery. Though he is unconscious, Ward apparently is moving.
"It's kind of like he is jumping," Tanner said. "That is all he can really do."
Doctors said they expect Ward to return to consciousness in a couple of days, Tanner said.
Ward, whose hometown is Pearisburg, Va., returned as a fullback for the University football team this season after quitting the team at the end of his first year.
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