GREENE COUNTY — A large amount of police responded to Wilberforce University in Greene County Friday night.
>>RELATED: Large police presence called to Wilberforce University
They surrounded a building on campus after 11 p.m. when a “signal 99″ or a call for countywide assistance sounded off.
News Center 7′s Kayla McDermott spoke to a freshman who said he watched police show up and the situation play out.
Deshaun Davis said at least a dozen police cruisers raced to get on campus.
Shortly after, he saw someone get taken away in handcuffs.
“We just see all these cops here, like what’s going on? About five minutes later we see a student getting taken out by about 20 police officers,” Davis said.
Davis was already outside because of a fire drill, but he heard police sirens along with the emergency service sirens.
When he saw the number of officers on campus, he thought something serious was happening.
“We thought for sure that there had to be something like officer got shot or something or somebody at least had a gun,” Davis said.
He later heard that was not the case.
>>Three people shot at Halloween party all hit with same bullet, police say
“There was a drunk student, and a fight broke out. I guess he ended up hitting the officers,” Davis said.
News Center 7 reached out to the Wilberforce Police Chief and their Public Information Officer to confirm what Davis said.
In a statement from the University’s President Vann R. Newkirk, the fight was only mentioned as an encounter between a former student and a campus official.
Davis said he and his friends still feel safe on campus and they are looking forward to putting this behind them since it’s Homecoming week.
Newkirk said there will be additional uniformed security, temporarily increased staffing in the residence halls, additional security cameras, and new security gates to all college drives and thoroughfares for Homecoming celebrations.
Mental health counseling aids have been made available for all Wilberforce students.
“Yet, external threats are not the only concern. In the wake of the worldwide Covid crisis, many students are displaying a high prevalence of stress, anxiety, depression, suicidal thoughts, and post-traumatic stress. Wilberforce University is not immune to these issues. Consequently, the University has expanded mental health services offered to students,” the statement read.
©2023 Cox Media Group
