Suspicious person an ex-student at RMU

Delaney Hassell, Assistant News Editor

Monday evening Robert Morris University police were called to Salem Hall with student complaints of a suspicious man going door-to-door asking for a place to stay.

Chief Randy Mink, Director of Public Safety, said that the identity of the man was not to be released and that an ex-student got into Salem Hall and was looking for a place to spend the night.

Police arrived on the scene to get the situation under control.

“We found the individual and took him off campus and he stayed in a local hotel last night,” said Mink.

Although no specific amount of time was determined, Mink said that it was only a short period of time that the trespasser was on campus before police arrived.

No charges have been filed at this time, but a trespass warning was issued to the male the following morning meaning, if he is to return to campus, he can be charged with the appropriate charges at the time.

Many students have been curious as to why they were not notified about an incident such as a trespasser on campus through email or RMU Alert.

“We really try to be selective on what we put on RMU Alert. We find suspicious people on campus all the time. We didn’t know if it was a student visiting someone and all that. So, don’t want to alarm the general public for something that we’re dealing with right then and there,” said Mink.

Mink went on to say that if the individual had been on campus multiple times, if they knew that person may have committed a crime, or was wanted—anything that could put the students in danger— an immediate alert would go out.

“We don’t want to alarm the community with a tremendous amount of stuff like that because then what happens is people don’t pay attention to them,” said Mink.