Sexual assault, homicide occur blocks away from Duquesne

By Kaye Burnet | News Editor

Updated 10.28.15 at 11:39

There were two violent crimes committed within a few blocks of Duquesne this week, according to police.

Pittsburgh police are currently looking for three men who allegedly sexually assaulted a female Duquesne student in an apartment near Crawford Street in the Hill District Wednesday around noon. In the same area Sunday night, an unknown gunman shot to death wheelchair bound 28-year-old Jawan Tasker.

According to senior international relations major Cody Fetters, at around 11:45 p.m. on Sunday he had his window open at his Waashington Plaza apartment and heard yelling outside.

“I looked out my window and saw people on the sidewalk of Fifth Avenue, and then there was a gunshot and I heard screaming,” Fetters recounted. “My phone was dead so I couldn’t call 9-1-1, but within three to five minutes there were numerous cop cars there.”

Emergency workers found Tasker’s body next to his wheelchair outside Kenny’s Place in the 1400 block of Fifth Avenue and declared him dead on-scene. Pittsburgh Police are investigating and believe there was one shooter who fled on foot, according to a press release.

Duquesne police are still investigating the sexual assault. According to a crime alert email sent out to the Duquesne community, three men approached the female student as she walked on Watson Street behind the Barnes and Nobles on Forbes Avenue and forced her to come with them to an apartment, where they assaulted her. The perpetrators also stole the student’s credit card.

According to Duquesne Police Chief Tom Hart, there is no reason to believe the men are related to Duquesne.

Fetters said both incidents lead him to think “something definitely needs to be done to make students feel safer in the areas surrounding campus.

“I don’t necessarily feel less safe in my apartment or on campus, but I do feel less safe while on my walk to campus after [these events].”