Based on new information from the victim of a Sanford Hall sexual assault, the University of Minnesota Police Department has determined there is “no immediate and ongoing threat to public safety.”
UMPD Investigator Kevin Randolph said the case is no longer being investigated as a stranger sexual assault because of information the victim provided, but declined to give specifics about what she said.
Vice President for University Services Pamela Wheelock sent a public safety update Wednesday evening informing University students, faculty and staff of the new information.
No arrests have been made and the investigation in still ongoing, said University spokesman Steve Henneberry.
The 18-year-old victim told police she was in the hallway outside her room early Sunday morning when she met two men who walked her back to her room, according to a crime alert sent Tuesday. One of them threatened her with a knife and then both raped her.
She told authorities she didn’t know the suspects when she reported the incident Monday.
Randolph said he couldn’t release further information to protect the victim’s identity, but he said the email went out as soon as authorities felt sure that the incident no longer posed a threat to campus safety.