Southeastern student abducted at gunpoint and sexually assaulted; suspect in custody, campus police say
HAMMOND, La. (WVUE) - A man is behind bars after abducting a female student from the campus of Southeastern Louisiana University and sexually assaulting her Thursday morning, according to campus police.
Police say that the suspect took the victim around 8 a.m. in the area of North Oak Street and West Dakota Street by a man who drew a gun on her and ordered her to get into his white Suburban. The suspect sexually assaulted her and then dropped the victim off at a different location in Tangipahoa Parish.
After the victim returned to the area, she drove to her boyfriend’s residence in Livingston Parish where they reported the crime to the sheriff’s office there. Authorities alerted the University Police who immediately opened an investigation.
University Police say that the suspect was arrested four hours after receiving the report and collaboration from other law enforcement agencies. After releasing images of the suspect’s vehicle, a community member’s tip led to the whereabouts of the suspect and he was arrested at an apartment complex in the area.
The suspect was able to be tracked down from a cell phone number provided to law enforcement by the victim. The victim told police that the suspect forced her to give him her number and he exchanged contact with her. She also told police the suspect is someone she is not familiar with and that she was attacked at random.
Prior to the arrest, police described the suspect as a black male 5′7 tall with short twists in his hair. The suspect’s name will not be released until he is formally booked but police did say that he was not a student at Southeastern and he’s from Jackson, Mississippi. The suspect told police he stays in the Hammond area from time to time.
On Thursday evening, law enforcement searched through the apartment complex where the suspect was found to look for evidence and reviewed a camera system to see how long he was on campus before the attack.
Police say there are more details to come.
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