Students concerned after rash of crimes around UW campus

SEATTLE -- Students say violence seems to be on the rise near the University of Washington.

Briana Baldwin heard something happening down the street from her home on University Way Wednesday night.

“I heard sirens, and then more sirens throughout the night. So it didn’t make me feel safe at all.”

Police say there was a large brawl, involving as many as 10 people. During the fight, a woman pulled a knife on a man who had threatened to assault her. But instead she stabbed a 22-year-old man who stepped in to break up the fight.

Police said he was critically wounded, and the woman fled the scene.



In late January, there was another stabbing less than a mile away. Graham Harper saw a man punching two women, after an argument over a parking space.

“I didn`t really think that guys hit girls until this thing happened.”

When he tried to stop the man, he was slashed with a knife. He spent a week in the hospital recovering.

“I look like Frankenstein all over my body, held together with staples.”

Baldwin says these types of incidents seem to be happening more.

“When I hear about the Ave, people think it’s grimy and unsafe already. People don’t really want to come here.”

UW students Q13 FOX News talked to agreed.

“It is a great area and I love being here,” says grad student Aaron Cammack. “It’s just in the wee hours of the evening, it gets to be a little bit dangerous.”

UW police could not say whether crime statistics are up. But they say the recent incidents should be a reminder to students to take precautions on campus and in the neighborhoods around it.

“We like our students to be aware of their surroundings, alert when they’re traveling at nighttime,” says Lt. Craig Wilson. “We also like them to utilize the buddy system, to travel in groups whenever possible.”

But some say UW and Seattle police need to do more to prevent these types of crimes.

“I really feel safety in this area should not just be limited to a few patrol cars driving down every 20 or 30 minutes,” says Michael Kibler. “I really think there should be officers patrolling the streets on a nightly basis. I think that would make a lot more people feel safe.”

As for the stabbing suspect, she’s been described as a white woman in her 20s, between 5-foot-8 and 5-foot-10. She was wearing an oversized olive green jacket and had a three-legged pit bull with her.

Police ask that you call them if you have any information that could help them find the suspect.