A pair of Chicago institutions have issued alerts after students were sexually assaulted at both Loyola and Columbia this week.
According to school officials, three separate incidents occurred at Loyola University’s Lakeshore Campus on Monday night.
A separate assault occurred Tuesday morning at Columbia College, and while the incidents at the two schools have not been linked, they have put multiple student communities on edge.
The first incident Monday occurred at the front entrance of Campion Hall at approximately 8:37 p.m., according to officials. A second incident occurred approximately one minute later on the north stairs of Mertz Hall, and then three minutes later the same suspect grabbed a third woman near the corner of Loyola and Sheridan before fleeing to a CTA Red Line station.
In all three incidents, a man wearing a gray and black puffy coat, khaki pants, white shoes and carrying a brightly colored shopping bag grabbed students or touched their buttocks, according to the alert.
School officials issued an alert for students after the incidents, encouraging students to remain aware of their surroundings and providing a variety of services to students.
A separate incident occurred near Columbia College on Tuesday at approximately 9:30 a.m. when a man walked up to a woman outside the Harold Washington Library and grabbed her, according to college officials.
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It is not known if the incidents at the two colleges are related. No identifying information about the suspect was released in the incident at Columbia.
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