A resident of the West Range reported an incident to the Charlottesville Police Department at approximately 12:30 a.m. Tuesday, according to a community alert sent by Timothy Longo, associate vice president for security and safety and chief of University Police. The Range rooms are home to graduate students at the University.
The resident was awoken by a light at her window as the suspect pressed on her window screen, according to the alert. The resident called out, and the subject fled in an unknown direction. The subject was described as a male wearing a blue button-up shirt with what appeared to be a white undershirt underneath.
This is the sixth community alert sent to the community this fall, and the second in the last three days. On Sunday, a woman reported being chased by a male suspect from Rugby Road to a residence on Virginia Ave.
The other four alerts this semester have all been instances of shots fired — the first on the 300 block of Paton Street Aug. 30, the second near Venable Elementary Sept. 1 and the most recent at the intersection of 8th Street and Page Street Wednesday. An additional incident involved an innocent bystander who was struck accidentally by a bullet fired through the bathroom wall of Boylan Heights Sept. 4.
After the incident at Boylan Heights, University President Jim Ryan sent an email to the University community about the incident, noting that it came “on the heels of several reports of shots fired in neighborhoods near Grounds.” Ryan emphasized the importance of the University’s community alert system in keeping individuals informed.
“This is how most members of our community learned of this incident Saturday morning, as well as the arrest of one suspect and the ongoing search for a suspect in another case,” Ryan’s email read. “This system provides timely information to help community members stay safe in the event of a threat – it is important for all community members to monitor these alerts closely.”
Given the increase in crime, the University has increased the presence of both University Police Department personnel and University Ambassadors to “assist students if necessary and help identify potential criminal acts and report them to police more quickly.” In the coming weeks, the safety and security team will meet and bring recommendations of additional safety measures to Ryan.
“Community alerts” are shared with the University community when there is sufficient and timely information that can be released to the community without compromising any on-going investigations. “Timely warnings” are sent when crimes committed pose an “on-going threat” to the safety of the community. Any community member who wishes to receive these notifications may text “UVA” to 226787.
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