Graduate Student Shot

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Chicago ✅
1

<p>This message was emailed out this morning. Students also got phone calls or text messages as a part of the new campus alert system, put in place after the shooting at VA Tech. Though I do believe the University's safety measures are far superior to those of most other colleges, the U of C is an urban school, and there is always the possibility of violent crime. My best to Amadou's family and friends. The flag is at half-mass on campus today.

[quote]

To: University Community
From: President Robert Zimmer
Subject: Shooting on South Ellis</p>

<p>It is with the greatest possible sadness that I write to inform you of the tragic killing of one of our graduate students last night. Amadou Cisse, an international student completing his Ph.D. degree in chemistry, was shot and killed at 1:26 a.m. in the street near 6120 S. Ellis Ave. We are saddened and outraged by this terrible event, and our hearts go out to the student’s family, friends, colleagues and neighbors.</p>

<p>Both University of Chicago and Chicago Police Department officers responded immediately to the shooting, and are working together to actively investigate this crime. Police are increasing patrols in and around campus. In addition to these immediate measures, we will work intensively with the Chicago Police Department to evaluate what additional steps we will take to ensure the safety of our community going forward.</p>

<p>In addition to the fatal shooting, there were two other incidents on or near campus last night. At 12:33 a.m. at 6045 Woodlawn, a man was chased by an individual who fired a shot in his direction. At 1:15 a.m., two women were robbed at 924 E. 57th St. by an individual who said he had a weapon. Police are investigating whether or not these incidents are related. Anyone who might have information related to any of these incidents should call the Chicago Police Department’s Area 2 Violent Crimes at 312-747-8272.</p>

<p>A number of resources are available to students, staff and faculty as we struggle to come to grips with this tragedy. Students who need assistance are encouraged to contact the Student Counseling and Resource Service, 5737 S. University Ave., 773-702-9800. Counseling resources are available to faculty and staff through Perspectives, 5751 S. Woodlawn, 800-456-6327. Other University resources are available by calling 773-834-HELP.</p>

<p>I want to remind you of safety resources that are available within the University Police coverage area (north to 39th Street, south to 64th Street, east to Lake Shore Drive, and west to Cottage Grove Avenue). The SafeRide Program provides an on-call bus service from midnight to 4 a.m. Monday-Thursday and midnight to 6 a.m. Friday and Saturday. To arrange a pickup, call 773-702-2022 and give your address. More information is available at Transportation:</a> UChicago Facilities Services.</p>

<p>In addition, anyone within this coverage area can request assistance at any time from University Police if they feel uncomfortable with their surroundings. Call University Police at 773-702-8181 from an outside phone or 123 from a campus phone, give your location, and the first available patrol car will be dispatched to accompany you.</p>

<p>There are 325 emergency phones in the area, located on thoroughfares heavily trafficked by pedestrians. To activate the emergency phone, press the red button and your location will be immediately transmitted to the University Police. An officer or patrol car will come to your aid.</p>

<p>We will provide more information as soon as we are able. If you have additional questions, you may contact Sonya Malunda, assistant vice president and director of community affairs, 773-702-4568, <a href="mailto:smalunda@uchicago.edu">smalunda@uchicago.edu</a>.</p>

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2

<p>This is truly tragic. My thoughts are with all those close to this student. I hope some justice prevails in this case.</p>

3

<p>This is terribly sad, though I think the university is doing the best it possibly can (says the person who got the phone call from the emergency system during class today!)</p>

<p>There's a lot of information to sift through, and my resident heads have scheduled a meeting tonight to go over what they know at this point.</p>

<p>In the meantime, I guess it's best to cut down on any walking alone at night-ness, at least for the meantime, when they figure out how and why this happened.</p>

4

<p>My house is also having a house meeting about it tonight. A campus wide meeting is being scheduled as well:

[quote]
We are writing as a follow-up to President Zimmer’s message this morning about the shooting death of Amadou Cisse. We have heard many expressions of outrage, fear, sadness and concern from community members, and we thought many of you would appreciate a chance to come together this evening. A community gathering has been scheduled from 5:30-7 p.m. tonight, November 19, in the McCormick Tribune Lounge on the first floor of Reynolds Club for us to discuss the community’s response to this tragedy.</p>

<p>Amadou’s untimely death is especially poignant because he had successfully defended his dissertation in chemistry and was scheduled to receive his degree at convocation on December 7. The University will award his degree posthumously. We are in contact with close family and friends and will be working with them and members of the University community to determine an appropriate way to honor his life. We will share details about a memorial service celebrating his life as soon as they are finalized.</p>

<p>Police will be issuing a community alert later today with more details about the investigation, and we will post any updates to our website at The</a> University of Chicago. The University has offered a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of those responsible for this crime. </p>

<p>As you know, there were two other incidents on or near campus last night. Police are investigating whether or not these incidents are related. Anyone who might have information related to any of these incidents should call the Chicago Police Department’s Area 2 Violent Crimes at 312-747-8272.</p>

<p>Both the University and CPD are increasing patrols in and around campus. We also have increased the number of vehicles for the SafeRide program starting immediately. We advise community members to be vigilant, to take full advantage of our safety resources, and to review the safety guidelines posted at University</a> of Chicago News Office | Campus message from President Zimmer about shooting on S. Ellis.</p>

<p>If you have additional questions, please contact Sonya Malunda, assistant vice president and director of community affairs, 773-702-4568, <a href="mailto:smalunda@uchicago.edu">smalunda@uchicago.edu</a>.

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5

<p>My S is a graduate student at Chicago and he called to tell me this news. I am sick about this and my heartfelt prayers go out to this young man's family.
My S lives much too close to the scene of this crime for my comfort and I have reminded him to do as much as he can to insure his personal safety and remember that he is living in a city now. I hope that the City and University police are successful in bringing the perpetrators to justice quickly.</p>

6

<p>This apparently isn't something that happens very often, and according to my RA, this hasn't happened in decades. So people reading this post (particularly prospective students) shouldn't be too worried... it just something that is of temporary concern.</p>

7

<p>Phuriku is absolutely right-- homicides, especially those in Hyde Park, especially those involving university people, are exceedingly rare. I'm sure you could make the case that you're more likely to die by other means (car accident, disease, etc.) than you are by homicide, but at this point I'm more shocked and scared than anything else. Rationalizing will kick in later.</p>

<p>As the messages copied-and-pasted note, there are a lot of safety resources, and these resources will become more and more popular, I imagine, once more and more people use them after this event.</p>

8

<p>As a further follow-up, my S emailed me, forwarding the following information:
TO: University Community
FROM: President Robert J. Zimmer
SUBJECT: University Safety</p>

<p>I am writing to inform you of some immediate as well as sustained actions the University will take to improve safety in and around campus.</p>

<p>First, we have increased police patrols on and around campus. In the past few years we have expanded police patrols between the hours of 4:00 p.m. and midnight when most crimes occur. That approach has been successful in reducing crime. Today we are taking the further steps of expanding by another 50 percent the number of University police car patrols between 4 p.m. and midnight and doubling the police car presence after midnight around campus. Also starting today, we will supplement squad-car based patrols with additional officers on bicycles. Each of these steps will be maintained indefinitely. </p>

<p>Second, we have added two additional vans to SafeRide, our late-night van service, and expect to make additional improvements to that service as soon as we can determine--with your input--what changes would be most effective. The further changes being anticipated include additional vans as well as changes to routes, policies, and other operational aspects of the program to better meet the needs of the University community. </p>

<p>Third, until the opening next spring of our new police headquarters now under construction at 61st and Drexel Avenue, we will set up a visible police substation on the south campus. </p>

<p>At the same time that we take these immediate measures, we will begin a comprehensive review of campus safety and security, seeking advice from both security experts as well as from campus and community members. Among improvements we expect to consider is the installation of additional security cameras on and around the campus. </p>

<p>Finally, let me assure you that we will work to improve campus safety in an ongoing and deliberate way. We take seriously our responsibility for providing a safe environment for our community and welcome your thoughts about additional areas that need attention.</p>

9

<p>Just thought I would let prospective students know that being by yourself at 1:30am at 61st and Ellis is a very bad idea. Granted this was a tragedy, I think the underlying lesson to be learned from this is that one should display common sense. Venturing south of 60th or west of Cottage Grove alone past midnight is downright dumb.</p>

10

<p>Venturing either of those places alone on foot is usually a bad idea. Doing that anytime after dark--not just 12 AM--is an especially bad idea.</p>

11

<p>To be perfectly fair, 61st and Ellis isn't a place many undergraduates will ever see at 1:30 am. At least until they finish building the new undergraduate dorm at . . . 61st and Ellis. It's not exactly in another world. And 57th and Ingleside, where the two women were mugged, is pretty much in the heart of campus, right near the 24-hour science library. This wasn't a good weekend for the University.</p>

12

<p>Though we can extol the wisdom of not walking alone at night, I should probably point out things that were highly unusual about this crime:</p>

<p>1) Somebody associated with the University was killed. Apparently, nobody from the University has been killed since the 70s. (If somebody has information that refutes that, that would be great).</p>

<p>2) The killing occurred pretty late. Most crime happens much earlier (between 8 and midnight or so), because, as somebody pointed out, criminals are opportunistic and are not going to stay up late to find people to mug when they can do it earlier.</p>

<p>3) There was a real gun involved.</p>

<p>The vast majority of student-experienced crime is through muggings. Muggings stink, but those of my friends who have been mugged (and again, most of them were alone, drunk, in deserted areas, or a combination of the three) say that the "transaction" is relatively smooth. If the perp has a gun, it's usually a toy gun, and he (or she) usually flees after taking the wallet. They're only out for money and don't want to hurt you.</p>

<p>Probably preaching to the choir here, but a few safety tips...
1) Don't walk alone at night. Use the police escort, the reg shuttles, walk with a friend, walk in the same direction as a "buddy" (somebody you see in front of you or behind you. My friends who live off campus and like to walk home alone make sure that they're not the only ones out on the street and that they see other students walking home too.
2) Don't wear your ipod if you're walking alone. Be aware of your surroundings, both sights and sounds.
3) If you see somebody standing on a corner with no purpose whatsoever, and you are pretty sure that that person is not affiliated with the University, that qualifies as "sketchy." My one near unpleasant run-in in my year and a third here and a friend of mine's one unpleaseant run-in both had to do with dudes loitering and waiting for bait. Turn around and go a different route, call police to take you back, or a combination of the two.</p>

13

<p>To our current Chicago students -</p>

<p>I see that there is a candlelight vigil planned for Amadou today, and that a condolence book is being compiled. If you have the time and the heart for it - please enter something into the book for his family. I know its hard coming up with words at a time like this (even for Chicago students) - but each entry is going to be meaningful to the parents.</p>

14

<p>he was the the first student murdered since the '70s, not anyone university-related. this actually surprised me...an interesting university-related death is that of ioan culianu: Ioan</a> P. Culianu - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia</p>

15

<p>I'm not sure what you are saying mopasm23. Culianu, a UC professor, was murdered in the bathroom of the Divnity School on May 21, 1991.</p>

16

<p>professor != student</p>

17

<p>Hah. I was wrong. Weird death.</p>

<p>In other news, Safe Ride/ Late Night Van Service/ the Drunk Van is starting service at 10pm instead of 12pm. It's not like you couldn't get a ride earlier with the umbrella service, but this time it might feel easier to call a shuttle that's designed to pick somebody up than it would be an on-duty cop.</p>

18

<p>I got an email today addressed to alums. I'm glad the University is sharing so much information and taking steps to enhance security. I think they do a better job than Penn does.</p>

19

<p>"Phuriku is absolutely right-- homicides, especially those in Hyde Park, especially those involving university people, are exceedingly rare. I'm sure you could make the case that you're more likely to die by other means (car accident, disease, etc.) than you are by homicide"</p>

<p>This is true. However, it's not irrational to be concerned about the particular individual who did this...he hasn't been caught, he probably lives in Woodlawn (since most criminals "work" near their homes), and he's probably extra armed and extra nervous now that the whole South Side is looking for him. I think there is real reason to be extra careful in the next few days.</p>

<p>I'll be in Hyde Park all weekend, and at the interfaith service at Rockefeller tomorrow morning. It's a wonderful event every year, but I expect that there will be recognition of this loss as well. I hope I'll see some of you there.</p>

20

<p>Hmm... I wonder what's up with the surge in crime in the past week, or if this is a regular occurrence. In the past week:</p>

<ul>
<li>3 girls from my house got their purses and coats stolen last weekend (and this wasn't even in a bad neighborhood...)</li>
<li>A laptop was stolen at the Reg yesterday (right out of someone's bag, apparently), as indicated by the flyers all around the library</li>
<li>A graduate student was shot and killed Sunday night, and another student was shot at at about the same time; also, various muggings occurred</li>
</ul>

<p>I'm getting more and more worried about my safety and my possessions as time passes. (Of course, I've already had a bike stolen...) At first, I thought as other people around here say -- be smart, and everything will be fine. But from what I've seen, you could take almost all the right steps except make a tiny mistake and wham, something very expensive is gone.</p>