Warning: this article contains references to sexual assault
Simple battery at Woodruff Circle
A simple battery incident was reported on Sept. 24 after 11 p.m. at the bus stop at the intersection of Clairmont Road and North Decatur Road. The victim, a student, reported unwanted contact from a male stranger to the Emory Police Department on Sept. 27. There was no injury, so the incident was recorded as simple battery instead of standard battery, EPD Records Manager Ed Shoemaker said.
The suspect approached the student and began mumbling. He asked her questions about where she was from and where she was going while violating her personal space.
Once the bus showed up, the suspect got on with the victim and sat next to her. She reported that he sat very close and that his leg was almost on top of hers.
On the bus ride, the suspect began to rub the victims hands, which caused her to jump out of her seat. This unwanted contact resulted in the incident being labeled as simple battery.
When they got to their destination at Woodruff Circle, the victim started speed walking through campus in an attempt to get away from the suspect. He kept pace and continued to ask her where she was going. After she wouldn’t answer him, he said he was going to the Mathematics and Science Center. He eventually steered off in that direction.
EPD believes the suspect is a student or at least familiar with the campus because he knew the location of a specific building.
The case is still open and the victim has yet to press charges. Shoemaker said that the victim reported that she still feels safe walking on campus.
Anonymous assault reported at Eagle Hall
EPD recieved an anonymous report regarding sexual assault at Eagle Hall on Sept. 28. The alleged assault took place on Sept. 17 at 11 p.m.
Since the report was anonymous, Shoemaker said EPD wasn’t able to gather adequate information on the case and that there has not been substantial investigative follow up.
According to the report, a male student sexually assaulted a female student, choking her in the process. Under Georgia law, the strangulation and the sexual assault are considered separate charges.
The incident resulted in “not ultimately any injury we are aware of,” Shoemaker said.
There have been no further updates on this incident.
Suspect arrested in Emory Autism Center Vandalism
EPD received a call from a University employee on Aug. 9 saying there had been property damage at the Emory Autism Center. An officer came to the scene to find that the back glass door had been shattered with a large rock near that entrance, vending machines had been broken into and two modes of vandalism on the walls.
The vandalism was located on the third floor. Swastikas and the N-word were written on the walls.
Shoemaker said that $185 in cash and about $50 in food and drink were stolen from the vending machines. There was also $850 worth of damage.
Over the following 10 days, EPD detectives used video surveillance near the scene and saw that the suspect, Roy Lee Gordon Jr., entered the building at almost midnight on Aug. 7, a time where no one else would have been there, Shoemaker stated.
Gordon was a custodian employed by a University-contracted company. EPD interviewed him on Aug. 19, and he gave some indication of knowing about the crime, but didn't show up for a follow up interview on Aug. 20.
EPD got a warrant for Gordon’s arrest, and the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Office arrested him on Sept. 22.
Shoemaker said some facts may have not been released as soon as they were known by the detectives.
“There is always a little anxiety about making sure that whatever information is released to the community is in fact correct,” Shoemaker said.
Gordon is still in jail, to the best of Shoemaker’s knowledge, and he is awaiting further legal proceedings. The only unknown remaining in the case is motive.
