Woman Assaulted At University Of La Verne Campus

LA VERNE, CA —During the last days of the school year, while Spring finals were underway, a University of La Verne student advocate was attacked inside a dormitory stairwell, police reported.

Police have not labeled this instance as a hate crime, and no suspect information has yet been released. Police were continuing to investigate the reported assault as a battery, though they did admit to local media that previous threats, including a smoking backpack, remained under investigation.

In March, university officials described those threats as 'heinous acts,' when a student received threats of violence that were racially motivated, Patch reported.

On Wednesday, a La Verne police lieutenant confirmed with the media that the victim, a Hispanic woman, is the same person who found a smoking backpack inside her vehicle in a dormitory parking lot on March 1.

That incident prompted a cancellation of afternoon classes at the university. Campus officials issued an alert that day saying the targeted student had "previously reported receiving race-based threats of violence via social media."

The woman was found injured around 2:45 p.m. Tuesday in a campus dormitory stairwell by a person leaving the building, police said. The woman told responding officers she had been physically assaulted by a male suspect wearing a ski mask.

Police said paramedics were called to the scene but the woman declined further medical treatment.

Friends of the woman told reporters she is actively involved in various campus social issues and they fear the attack may have been prompted by her activism against prejudice and discrimination.

The woman had a "bag placed over her head," one friend of the victim told KTLA5. "They meant to do something to her."

It was unclear if more than one assailant was involved.

Spring semester final exams are underway at the school.

Anyone with information about the assault was asked to call the La Verne Police Department at 909-596-1913.

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