Content Warning: This article contains references to sexual assault.
The Emory Wheel meets with Emory Police Department (EPD) Records Manager Ed Shoemaker (87G, 90G) and EPD Communications Director Morieka Johnson (94C) 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.
Sexual battery
An anonymous female undergraduate student noticed she was being followed while walking from Ignatius Few Hall to Woodruff Residential Center around 1:30 a.m. on Oct. 19. Before entering the Woodruff Residential Center, Shoemaker said the female student turned around and asked the stalker — who she guessed was a first-year or second-year student based on his appearance — what he was doing, and the stalker said he just wanted to “say hi.” She then told him that she had a boyfriend and turned around to enter the building, but the stalker grabbed her breasts and buttocks. The female student then fell to the ground and screamed.
The complainant reported the incident to another campus office, which then notified EPD.
Shoemaker explained that the incident constitutes sexual battery, which EPD is mandated to make a notice about under federal law. The University sent a public safety notice describing the incident in an email to students on Oct. 20.
EPD believes the offender might pose a threat to the community, Shoemaker added.
“We cannot say that he wouldn’t do the same thing with somebody else, so we want to make people aware that he is out there,” Shoemaker said. “If anybody knows anything about who he was or what his deal is, we would be happy to have that conversation.”
This case is still under investigation.
Reckless conduct
At around 11:30 p.m. on Oct. 20, a male student was walking outside the Clairmont Tower apartment building and talking to his mother on his phone when he heard a rock hitting the ground and breaking into pieces, according to Shoemaker. One of the rocks was dropped so close to him that a piece of the broken rock landed on his foot.
When the student looked up, he saw five people on one of the building’s upper balconies and reportedly heard one of them say, “Oh my God, he turned back,” according to Shoemaker. The group then left the balcony.
There were no other witnesses and the offenders were unrecognizable because it was dark outside, but the complainant thought they dropped the rock from the eighth or ninth floor. Shoemaker confirmed that no injuries were sustained.
This case is still under investigation.
Simple battery
A woman in her 50s filed a report with EPD on Oct. 19 claiming that she was assaulted by members of the Emory University Hospital staff while she was receiving care last month. Shoemaker explained that the two nurses who were working the night shift and were “more or less” responsible for the woman’s care slapped her across the face.
According to the patient, one nurse came into the room first after the patient pressed the call button. The nurse told the patient to “stop pressing the button so much” before cursing and slapping the left side of the patient’s face, the patient told EPD. After the first nurse left, the other nurse came into the room and thought the incident was “funny,” Shoemaker said. The second nurse then also allegedly slapped the left side of the patient’s face.
Shoemaker explained that when the patient first tried to inform the medical staff about what happened, “nobody would pay any attention to her.” On Oct. 17, the patient got in touch with the nurse in charge of the hospital floor where she received care and explained what happened. The nurse in charge then notified her management and facilitated the EPD report.
The case is currently under investigation. Shoemaker said he does not know what actions the hospital will take toward the nurses.
“There’s two questions to ask there,” Shoemaker said. “One is what happens on the criminal side, which is our responsibility, whether the victim of the crime wants to go forward with the prosecution. The other is what the hospital wants to do administratively, and that part is very much outside of our scope.”
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.
