Dillard student assaulted by several suspects

Just days before the Thanksgiving holiday break, the Dillard University campus was shaken by a violent assault on one of its own by several unknown assailants on Thursday morning.

According to Dillard officials, several unknown persons entered the campus shortly after 11:00 a.m. and assaulted a Dillard University student. Upon notification of the incident, Dillard University Police Department responded and attempted to stop a white Lexus sedan with tinted windows.

According to Dillard police, the assailants refused to heed the officer’s command to stop and accelerated towards a campus police officer, who then fired a single shot at the vehicle before removing himself from harm’s way. The vehicle then left campus through the Cook entrance and proceeded down Gentilly Blvd.

The victim of the assault was transported by EMS to the hospital. The extent of his injuries are not known at this time.

The NOPD is reportedly also looking for a Black trucks which is believed to also have been involved in the assault and was last seen leaving the Gentilly campus with the white Lexus.

“This is just the way it is today,’ a Dillard student who spoke on the condition of anonymity, told The Louisiana Weekly. “We live in a violent culture, both locally and nationally, and this is just a part of that larger problem. I’m just glad nobody was seriously hurt,

“This is a wake-up call for us because colleges are not immune to the kind of violence we see on the news and read about in the paper every day.”

The New Orleans Police Department is leading the investigation into the use of force by the Dillard officer.

After the incident, security was tight at the school as students prepared to take a Thanksgiving break before final exams begin in early December.

This article originally published in the November 21, 2016 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.