The Emory Wheel meets with Emory Police Department (EPD) Records Manager Ed Shoemaker (87G, 90G) and EPD Communications Director Morieka Johnson (94C) and uses EPD’s public Crime Log 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.
Terroristic threats
EPD received a report on Sept. 24 that a female psychiatric patient at Emory University Hospital at Wesley Woods had threatened to kill a male patient and the male patient's grandchild. The patients were sitting in a common room at the hospital when the incident took place.
“While he was sitting at the table, the female patient came around and threw his grandchild’s photo on the floor that had been on the table, and she yelled at him, ‘I will kill you. I will kill that baby,’” Shoemaker said.
The female patient also said the baby was “the devil,” which she blamed on the male patient, Shoemaker added.
However, the female patient told EPD that she did not recall the situation.
The male patient told EPD that he did not feel safe being in the same facility as the female patient and that he may be interested in pressing charges. EPD is currently working on gathering witnesses to verify what happened.
Harassing communications
A female Goizueta Business School student reported a male Goizueta student for harassing her on Sept. 21. The female student said she barely knew the male student and that he had been harassing her since she gave him her phone number while riding the shuttle together.
“He told her he had seen her many times on the shuttle bus and was new to Emory, barely knows his way around, hasn't made a lot of friends,” Shoemaker said. “She was being nice to him and said if he had any questions about facilities at school or living in Atlanta, generally he could feel free to ask her.”
The male student sent the female student many text messages the next day. He questioned her when she did not respond promptly, according to Shoemaker. The female student then responded saying that she was busy and did not have a lot of time to talk with the male student.
“Later that evening he sent out a message saying there was a gunshot incident in the metro again,” Shoemaker said.
The female student did not know what shooting the male student was referring to and ignored the message, according to Shoemaker. The two students ultimately got in a dispute, and the female student said the male student’s behavior was “emotional blackmail and passive aggressive in nature,” which he took offense to, Shoemaker said.
After the female student received more text messages, she blocked the phone number and said he had not contacted her again. However she is concerned that he knows her daily routines.
Theft by deception
EPD received a report of a scam on Sept. 22 after a female student living in Raoul Hall connected three other students with an unknown person selling tickets to Drake’s Sept. 27 concert at State Farm Arena. The female student heard that the unknown person was selling tickets through a group chat.
The students sent $600 to the unknown person for three tickets.
“They got a message back saying, ‘Once I verify that the payment has gone through, then I'll send you the tickets,’” Shoemaker said. “As you might guess, no tickets.”
The students attempted to contact the seller after not receiving the tickets but the seller did not respond.
This crime is currently under further investigation. EPD does not know the identity of the seller, Shoemaker said. The group chat was supposed to only include students, but the seller used a name that does not appear to have any affiliation with Emory.
“Beware of these transactions,” Shoemaker said. “If the deal sounds too good to be true, there's a reason for that.”
