Campus Safety and Crime

Miami Gardens police are investigating a reported sexual assault of a Florida Memorial University student in which an unknown man allegedly scaled a campus wall and attacked her after following her from a nearby bus stop early Sunday morning. The victim, an international student from Colombia, had retreated onto FMU grounds and cleared an ID check with a campus security officer before the suspect allegedly jumped a wall, pinned her against a building door and sexually assaulted her, then fled. Police Chief Delma Noel‑Pratt said preliminary findings indicate campus security guards may have seen the suspect enter the grounds and pursue the woman but failed to intervene, prompting sharp questions about the private HBCU’s safety protocols. On Tuesday authorities detained a person of interest matching the suspect’s description after neighbors reported a man in a black hoodie loitering in the area for weeks, though no charges have been announced. FMU’s president has pledged increased security patrols and better lighting, while nearby residents say those steps should have come sooner and complain about a lack of routine patrols around the campus.

University of Michigan engineering student Lucas Mattson, 19, was found dead Saturday night in Ann Arbor after a roughly 20‑hour multi‑agency search that began when he walked away from a fraternity party around 1 a.m. Friday wearing only a T‑shirt, jeans and sneakers as temperatures fell to about 0°F. Campus and city police say there were no obvious signs of trauma and foul play is not suspected, with the Washtenaw County Medical Examiner now responsible for determining the official cause and manner of death. Mattson was reported missing to Ann Arbor police about 15 hours after he was last seen, prompting a search in "extreme cold conditions" using local officers, University of Michigan public‑safety staff and the campus drone unit. Interim university president Domenico Grasso publicly offered condolences, warned students against spreading misinformation about the case, and ordered officials to retrace the night’s events to identify steps that might prevent similar tragedies. The case highlights ongoing concerns about campus alcohol culture, winter‑weather risk and how quickly universities and fraternities respond when students go missing overnight in dangerous conditions.