RKMBs Forums .::Important::. Politics and Current Events I was there.

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Monday, April 05, 2004


BY BILL SWAYZE, JEFF DIAMANT AND KATIE WANG
Star-Ledger Staff



Tight security blanketed Fairleigh Dickinson University in Morris County yesterday as jittery students and university officials dealt with the aftermath of an overnight brawl where a student was shot and seven other people were either slashed, stabbed or beaten.


Gun-toting police from Florham Park and surrounding municipalities blocked entrances to the walled campus and checked identifications, limiting access to students and university personnel.



The fight broke out early yesterday morning during a dance in the cafeteria at the student center on the College at Florham campus in Madison. Witnesses described a chaotic scene with people attacking each other with chair legs and Tabasco bottles.


"They were breaking the legs off the furniture and using them as weapons," said Danielle Browne, an 18-year-old freshman from Jackson. "There was fighting everywhere, in the student center, outside the student center, in the parking lots."


After the fight spilled outside and as Florham Park police were arriving, Robert Murray, a 21-year-old student from Atlantic City, was shot in the stomach. He remained in Morristown Memorial Hospital in good condition last night.


Morris County Prosecutor Michael M. Rubbinaccio said seven other people sustained injuries, including stab wounds and slashes. At least two of the injured people were students. None of the injuries was life threatening.


Although no arrests were made, Joseph Devine, chief of investigations for the Prosecutor's Office, said his office has several strong leads.


"There are several people of interest we are pursuing," Devine said.


Law enforcement officials said last night they were questioning one man who may have been involved in the fight and are looking for several other men.


Rubbinaccio said that the number of people fighting was a small percentage of the estimated 350 people in the Student Center for the dance. The room holds 500.


"This could have escalated into a riot," Rubbinaccio said. "Most of the students are good people and did not want to get involved."


The dance was sponsored by the Association of Black Collegians. The dance at the campus in Madison and Florham Park followed a fashion show at Fairleigh Dickinson's Metropolitan Campus in Teaneck.


The private school has about 6,500 undergraduates on the two campuses.


University President J. Michael Adams said many of the people involved in the fight were not students.


Last night, university Provost Ken Greene met with about 70 students and said the dance had been sponsored by a school-sanctioned organization that had submitted the required paperwork, according to Gregory Amodeo, a student who attended the meeting.


Before the meeting, Adams announced that classes would resume today and that the Student Center, which was closed to students after the fight, would reopen.


Florham Park Police Chief Ray Smith said his office planned to meet with officials from Fairleigh Dickinson and neighboring Drew University to discuss security on the adjoining campuses.


Smith said the fight was the most violent campus disturbance he could recall.


"I've never seen this in the 30 or more years I've been a police officer," Smith said. "We don't want to see a repeat of this."


Students who had attended the dance said the trouble started after midnight as the song "Knockin' Heads Off" by hip-hop artist Lil' Jon blared through the sound system.


"We were dancing, having a good time. There were people moshing around and people started fighting," said Sarah Root, an 18-year-old freshman from Boston. "The DJ cut the music off and everyone started to go for the exits. The rumor was there was a gun."


Fewer than six unarmed campus security officers were at the dance. They called Florham Park police for backup just after 1 a.m.


The first officers to arrive found several people suffering from stab wounds to the abdomen and arms and bloodstains on the floor of the student center.


It was after the first officers arrived that the shot rang
out.


Law enforcement officials said Murray was standing five to eight feet from the person who shot him. It was not clear if he was the intended target.


Although law enforcement officials would not say if the gun had been recovered, they said they had found a shell casing in the area where the shot was fired.


In addition, officials said they confiscated several knives and impounded two cars at the scene.


Within an hour after the shooting, police officers, some in riot gear, from 24 municipalities were posted at entrances to the walled campus off Route 124. A State Police helicopter hovered overhead.


"There were helicopters flying everywhere. They were really low. The dorms were shaking," said Jen Dean, a freshman. "A lot of people were scared. People were crying. There must've been like 10 cop cars at every entrance."


Maria Otero, a sophomore from Sayreville, said the gunshot victim was a soft-spoken young man who worked in a movie theater in Bridgewater.


"It was a shock," she said. "He's never in trouble, not in anything bad."


Students said Murray has a brother who is enrolled at the
school's Madison campus.


Reached at their home in Atlantic City, Murray's family declined to comment until they learn more about what happened.


Four of the people injured in the fight were taken to Morristown Memorial Hospital. Saint Barnabas Medical Center spokeswoman Robin Lally said two Fairleigh Dickinson students were treated and then released from the Livingston hospital.

Staff writers Wayne Woolley, Rick Hepp, Chandra Hayslett, Sally Goldenberg, Kelly Heyboer, Judith Lucas and Tyrone Richardson contributed to this report.

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Ultimate Jaburg53 said:
Scary shit man.

Glad your ok.

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