Colorado State University students and staff raise concerns after body found in dorm and person attacked with knife on same day

Students, staff and even parents at Colorado State University have expressed concerns over the past 24 hours after someone did this found dead at a residence, and another person was attacked with one Knife Hours later. Although the CSU says the two incidents were unrelated, the lack of information provided to the public has sparked concern and speculation among many.

Concerns began shortly after 10 a.m. Wednesday after police issued a shelter-in-place order for residence halls on the north side of campus. Two police cars were parked outside a residence hall for most of the day on Wednesday. However, the university did not disclose details of the investigation for hours. It was only after sunset that people learned that a body had been found in a dormitory. However, no further details were disclosed.

As students settled in for the night, a second protective order was issued for the entire campus. The second order came after police received a report of a white man in his 30s attacking someone with a knife near the CSU Oval.

Around 10 p.m. Wednesday, the university released a statement saying the suspect was believed to have left campus, and that was the last update provided.

“Many students asked questions. They didn’t know what was going on. They were worried. A lot of freshmen live in these dorms,” said Kate Sherman, a senior at CSU.

Sherman, who also works as a student journalist on campus, spent her Wednesday and Thursday gathering more information about the two investigations. She joined her fellow students in the media and asked the university for more information. However, the CSU was reluctant to share information beyond what had already been published.

“That’s about all we’ve been told for a long time,” Sherman said.

Freshman Natalie Gagnon also noted that not many details were provided to students and staff.

“My first reaction was very shocked. At first I felt like there wasn’t a lot of information about it,” Gagnon said.

Sherman and his parents, who contacted CBS News Colorado, said they had no information about what actually happened, leaving much speculation and rumors circulating on campus. Online social media platforms have been abuzz with speculation and concern.

“The lack of any description of what happened or any details about the case led to the students first making something up, and that spread very quickly,” Sherman said.

It wasn’t until more than 24 hours after the body was found in the dorm that the university released a statement telling students there was no threat to the campus and no suspect could be found.

At the time of publication of this article, University Police have not released any further information regarding the status of the suspect involved in the knife attack.

“The university kept it in the dark for most of the day yesterday and didn’t really tell us anything about the situation. And that became a problem on campus because there were a lot of rumors spreading about what was going on and all the false information because no one knew what was going on because the university hadn’t told us anything,” Sherman said. “Without a response from the university, it is difficult to say what is actually happening and what is not.”

The university has set up a hotline to obtain information about the investigation. This number can be found on the Campus Security page.

Gagnon said she would like to see more information provided to students in a timely manner, noting that she also respects the need for time to complete investigations.

“That would have been more helpful. Just because it’s good to know,” Gagnon said. “Of course they are doing the best they can, but I feel a little nervous and not as confident as I would like.”