Content Warning: This article contains references to sexual assault.
The Emory Wheel meets with Emory Police Department (EPD) Records Manager Ed Shoemaker (87G, 90G) weekly to inform the Emory University community about recent crime on and around Emory’s campuses. To report a crime, contact EPD at 404-727-6111 or police@emory.edu.
Computer forgery
A student filed a report with EPD on Oct. 16 after discovering that a classmate sent an email to their professor under her name. The email asked the professor a personal question that the complainant said she would not have sent.
Although the student was able to resecure her Emory email, she got a notification from Instagram a few days later that her primary phone number was changed on the app. Additionally, the student noticed that someone was sending direct messages from her Instagram account to women who she did not know, asking at least one of the women if she “measures her toes,” Shoemaker said.
The student called the new number associated with her Instagram account but was sent to voicemail, which gave the name of one of her classmates. The complainant and the other student were in the same class taught by the professor who received the personal email. She texted the student, asking him to get off her Instagram, which he did not do.
Soon after, the student who stole the complainant’s Instagram contacted their professor through the complainant’s email with another inappropriate question. The professor responded, telling the student to stop asking such questions.
EPD is still at an early stage of their investigation but knows who the alleged perpetrator is, Shoemaker said.
Computer forgery, which Shoemaker said occurs when someone manipulates data in a computer or computer network without permission, is a felony and can result in prison time and a $50,000 maximum fine.
“This is not playing games,” Shoemaker said.
Rape
A police officer from Illinois contacted EPD on Oct. 13 to report that a male high school student sexually assaulted a female student from another high school while they were at Emory for the Barkley Forum high school debate tournament in January.
As far as EPD is aware, both the survivor and alleged rapist are under 18 years old, according to Shoemaker. He added that EPD knows the assault took place in a classroom but does not have additional details on what happened.
EPD has contacted the survivor’s mother, who is now figuring out the next steps, according to Shoemaker.
Identity fraud
An Emory student who lives in Raoul Hall contacted EPD on Oct. 12 to report that someone was posing as her and trying to sell concert tickets in a group chat.
The complainant first got in touch with the perpetrator through the Slow Food Emory GroupMe chat after the perpetrator posted that they were selling Morgan Wallen concert tickets. The seller said they could not use the tickets due to a family emergency.
The student messaged the seller, negotiated the price and was going to buy the tickets but realized she had a conflict during the scheduled show. She told the seller she could not buy the tickets due to the conflict, but the seller offered to give the tickets to her for free so she could give them away since they “can’t use them either,” Shoemaker said.
The seller then asked the student to send them her Emory email address and a photo of herself holding her Emory ID card, which the student did under the assumption that the seller wanted to verify her identity as an Emory student, according to Shoemaker.
The seller said they would send the student the concert tickets but also asked for $100 to help them get to their family’s funeral. The student suspected a scam after this interaction and cut off the direct message.
However the student later received a phone call and multiple Instagram messages regarding concert tickets that she was supposedly selling, with one student telling her that they paid $300 for the tickets but never received them. The complainant found out from a friend that another student was posing as her with her name and photo and claiming to be selling concert tickets in a different group chat.
EPD is currently investigating this situation.
Family violence battery
EPD responded to a call about a domestic fight at the Media, Literature and Arts Outreach theme house on Oct. 7 during fall break. The person who contacted EPD said a male student was fighting with a woman in his room, according to Shoemaker.
EPD approached the woman, who is not affiliated with Emory, in the parking lot behind the building. She said that her “either current or ex-boyfriend, depending on who you’re talking to,” turned off his phone and refused to talk to her, so she decided to find him in person. The woman complained of wrist pain and had a mark on her hand, Shoemaker said.
While emergency medical services assessed the female, EPD located witnesses who reported hearing a disturbance in a room down the hall. The witnesses said they saw the male student trying to push the woman from his room but could not tell if he struck her, according to Shoemaker.
EPD talked to the male student, who said his “ex-girlfriend” showed up uninvited. Shoemaker said that the pair got into a verbal argument outside before she forced her way into his room and started to throw his belongings.
“We weren't able to determine to our satisfaction, in effect, who hit who, if anybody hit anybody,” Shoemaker said. “We weren't going to take anybody to jail without better evidence than that.”
This case is still under investigation. Shoemaker explained that the situation qualifies as family violence under Georgia law because the two individuals lived together last summer.
News Editor Spencer Friedland (26C) contributed to reporting.
If you or someone you know experienced sexual assault, you can access Emory’s Title IX resources at 404-727-0541 orhttps://equityandcompliance.emory.edu/title-ix/index.html and the Office of Respect at https://respect.emory.edu/ or their hotline 24/7 at (470) 270-5360. You can reach the RAINN National Sexual Assault hotline 24/7 at (800) 656-4673 or https://hotline.rainn.org/online. You can reach the Atlanta Grady Rape Crisis Center crisis hotline 24/7 at (404) 616-4861 or gradyrapecrisiscenter@gmh.edu and the Decatur Day League Sexual Assault Care and Prevention crisis hotline 24/7 at (404) 377-1428.
