Students at Southern Connecticut State University were caught off guard Friday morning when an email reported the sexual assault of a female on the university’s campus. The crime scene, a supposed parking garage which is normally empty late  at nights, had always been considered safe by both students and campus security.

“I don’t really like to walk by myself, but I’ve never really had a problem with it,” explained freshman Melissa Gorman. “But usually I walk with friends.” The woman, who was not a student of the university, was attacked last Thursday night. Hamden police have arrested a suspect and are investigating evidence in the crime.

“Once you’re on campus I feel like you’re pretty safe, it’s a rough area, so we don’t really leave much unless we go downtown,” said sophomore Brett Lamotta.  Like the University of New Haven, Southern Connecticut State University has large, blue emergency posts with red buttons for immediate police contact. “My mom told me just to be safe and everything and don’t walk around at night because New Haven is a pretty bad town,” added Lamotta. Most students that spoke on the issue said they would still continue to feel relatively safe on campus, but they would remain cautious.

Authorities and students do not see completely eye-to-eye on the actual events of the attack. Authorities are still reporting that the attack occurred in a parking lot while students, faculty, and most university officials are reporting the attack to have happened in the parking garage. The parking garage and the parking lots are equally well lit at night, although police suspect the emptiness was probably a contributing factor in the attack. No information has been released about the identity of the attacker or any possible relationship between the suspect and the victim has not been mentioned. Hamden police, SCSU campus police, and other officials are continuing to gather information about the nature of the sexual assault.