A female University student was attacked early Saturday morning while walking alone on Patterson Street after leaving a party, the victim said.
Eleanor Lowe, a senior majoring in psychology, had just reached the stairs to her friend’s apartment when a man grabbed her around the neck and said, “Shut the fuck up or I’ll kill you,” Lowe said.
The assailant pushed Lowe to her knees and tried to roll her over, Lowe said. She used the momentum of being rolled over to punch the man in the cheek, Lowe said.
Lowe said, “I don’t fucking think so,” while punching her assailant in the face, she said. The man smirked and sort of chuckled after Lowe punched him, she said, and he ran away immediately after.
“I thought it was really weird that he laughed and smirked,” Lowe said.
“Throughout the whole thing I remember thinking, ‘I can’t believe this is happening to me,’” Lowe said. “But it didn’t feel like a real threat because I couldn’t feel a weapon.
“I wouldn’t believe him in a million years that he was going to kill me,” Lowe said. “It was startling to be thrown down on the ground. It was forceful and violent, but it was like service with a smile.”
Lowe described the man as white, college-aged, clean-shaven, between 5’8″-5’10” and approximately 160-170 pounds. He had strong, broad shoulders and was wearing a dark baseball cap, dark sweatshirt and jeans, Lowe said.
“He was very generic looking,” Lowe said. “There was nothing distinguishing about him.”
Lowe said she couldn’t identify him if she saw him again or heard his voice again.
“I used to take walks alone at night, which I know is unsafe,” Lowe said, “but I liked the solitude. … I’m always really confident, aware of my surroundings.
“I don’t feel like I’m a target,” Lowe said. “Now, I just feel really unsafe.”