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Assault puts UNH campus on edge

E-mail|Link|Comments () December 5, 2009 12:38 PM

By Hannah McBride, Globe Correspondent

A New Hampshire college campus is on edge after an overnight assault in one of the school's dormitories, university police said.

A female student at the University of New Hampshire was reportedly grabbed from behind as she entered her room on the seventh floor of Stoke Hall, which houses primarily undergraduates, at the school's campus in Durham, said UNH Police Sergeant Steven Lee.

The suspect, described as a college-aged male with short hair, pushed the victim onto the bed but she fought off the attacker, who then fled.

Lee said the victim did not require medical attention and the incident did not appear to be a sexual assault. Police have not identified the suspect but are "confident [the incident] was isolated," Lee said. More officers will be on patrol in the area tonight and police are encouraging students to request security escorts if they feel unsafe, Lee said.

About 640 students live at Stoke Hall, which must be accessed with an identification card. No dormitories on the UNH campus in Durham have security guards, Lee said.