Sexual Assault Annandale NOVA Campus (Alexandria, Forest: apartment complexes, crime, homes)

[Pikantari]

Just thought I would let people know. There was a sexual assault yesterday evening around 5 pm at the Annandale campus. I do not go to that one, but I get the alerts.

I know I go to few of the campuses and I am uneasy walking at night.

There are campus police who will walk you to your car.

[PK12]

Sad to know. I hope the victim is OK and the perpetrator caught soon, if not already.

Been living in the area 5 yrs now but never had a need to go to any of the NOVA campuses?

Is it something in particular about the campuses, the students there, that makes you uneasy in the situation you described? Just curious

[Pikantari]

I have lived here a couple of years and this is my first semester. I go to a few different campuses and as a woman walking in the dark where anyone could be in between cars, yes, I am a bit uneasy about it.

It is not necessarily the students, but I am sure it could be. It is the time we live in. Crime is out there. People attack people, rape people, murder people, steal their cars. It is just an unfortunate fact.

That is what makes me uneasy about the situation I am in, especially since someone has now been assaulted just yesterday.

[FindingZen]

My heart goes out to the victim and I too hope that the attacker is caught soon.

I took some classes at NOVA-Annandale over a three year period, often at night. I never felt unsafe, although I am a guy. The only incident I ever heard about was a student who threatened a professor via phone calls. That person was eventually arrested and, obviously, banned from the campus.

That campus is near the beginning of "outside-the-Beltway" Annandale and is very quiet and suburban. (Not that ITB Annandale is particularly unsafe, either, although mild street wisdom might be useful around the apartment complexes bordering Alexandria.) Of course, that doesn't account for the variety of students and general public coming from a wide swath of the region and whatever their daily intentions may be. I would say to stay vigilant, perhaps walk to one's car with a buddy or campus police as suggested, but I would not panic.

[yamota]

That part of town has really deteriorated over the last 15 years or so

[JD984]

Originally Posted by yamota

That part of town has really deteriorated over the last 15 years or so

The Wakefield Forest area near NOVA-Annandale outside the Beltway is just as nice as it was 15 years ago. Same for the nearby Camelot and Mantua areas. It's really some of the garden apartment complexes inside the Beltway off Route 236 that have gotten sketchy.

[marie5v]

Just to put it in perspective - according to campus police, it was about 5pm in a stairwell and was broken up almost immediately by some people who were nearby. The campus is actually located in a very nice part of Annandale - mostly residential and generally a desirable place to live with good schools and nice homes. And it was stopped quickly, so presumably not much of an attack - it could have happened anywhere. Odd though because it was not exactly an isolated location at that hour, although perhaps the most isolated one available at that time.

Unfortunately, college campuses are magnets for people with bad intentions, since there are so many young people, especially women.

[mikecart1]

Originally Posted by marie5v

Just to put it in perspective - according to campus police, it was about 5pm in a stairwell and was broken up almost immediately by some people who were nearby. The campus is actually located in a very nice part of Annandale - mostly residential and generally a desirable place to live with good schools and nice homes. And it was stopped quickly, so presumably not much of an attack - it could have happened anywhere. Odd though because it was not exactly an isolated location at that hour, although perhaps the most isolated one available at that time.

Unfortunately, college campuses are magnets for people with bad intentions, since there are so many young people, especially women.

I have a little more faith in humanity after all. The stories I hate the most are the ones where people just watched or walked away thinking 'it was normal'. We need a real Batman in this country!

[dkf747]

Originally Posted by yamota

That part of town has really deteriorated over the last 15 years or so

Are you talking about a different campus?

[smarterguy]

Yikes. I've taken a few classes there. Never really felt unsafe but this stuff can happen anywhere.

Was this a random attack or did the perp know the victim?