UMC incident raises security questions for students
Freshman Vanessa Rawlings had just stepped off of the Buff Bus near Euclid Avenue for her first day of college when she was met with an unexpected and horrifying sight — a man stabbing himself with a knife in front of the UMC.
“He was yelling about Columbine, and everyone was running,” said the studio arts major from Miami Beach. “He sliced that kid’s throat like it was nothing.”
RESOURCES FOR STUDENTS
Psychological services on campus are offered to students by Counseling and Psychological Services, Wardenburg’s Office of Psychological Health and Psychiatry and the Center for Multicultural Affairs. Individual counseling and support is offered to faculty and staff by the Faculty and Staff Assistance Program.
-CU’s Office of Counseling and Psychological Services
-Faculty and Staff Assistance Program
Describing the scene as “complete chaos,” Rawlings said the man, identified by his roommate as former UMC table busser Kenton Astin, 39, of Boulder, was bleeding across his chest and stomach and was tackled by police officers.
Astin is a mentally disabled patient of the Mental Health Center of Boulder County who has been involved with the Chinook Clubhouse, which is a vocational placement center for mentally disabled people.
The victim, identified by CU spokesman Bronson Hilliard as a freshman from Illinois, was lying very still near the doors of the UMC while emergency personnel wrapped a large gauze bandage around his neck, Rawlings said.
“This is so shocking,” said Jessica Hagerty, a freshman communication major. “I mean this is Boulder. It’s Colorado, and this is supposed to be a safe zone.”
Hagerty and Nicole Nelson, a freshman communication major, said the safe, laid-back atmosphere was part of the reason why the two chose to attend CU. The women are from the Los Angeles area and said they wanted to get away from danger of the city, but now their perception of Boulder as a safe place had been shaken.
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“If something like this would happen in L.A., if would be shocking, but you never think something like this would happen here,” Hagerty said. “That the kid was a freshman is especially disturbing. I mean, are we a target?”
David Mizer, a senior architecture major, said he still felt safe in Boulder despite the stabbing.
“You know, of course it freaked me out, and it shocked me,” he said. “But this town is a safe place to be.”
Freshman open-option major Phuc Nguyn said the incident made him rethink his decision to come to CU and said he would not be opposed to video cameras and more security guards to insure students’ safety.
Contact Campus Press editor Cassie Hewlings at cassandra.hewlings@colorado.edu.
