Wingate University students attacked at random on campus

An investigation is underway at Wingate University after three students were randomly attacked by a group of teenagers.

"I feel perfectly safe, and you hear one of those things, and it kind of makes you question it a little bit," a student said.

"It is sort of disturbing to see, you know, something like that happen on campus.  It makes you wonder a little bit  how people can just walk in and out," said another student.

The Wingate Police Department said that early Sunday morning a group of teenagers came on campus and starting fighting with students for no reason.

Three students intervened and were assaulted.

One female student suffered a concussion after repeatedly being punched in the face.

Another female was thrown to the ground, and a male student punched and wrestled to the ground.

The suspects range in age from 13 to 17 years old.

The 13-year-old has been arrested, but police are still searching for the other teens.

"It's hard to imagine someone of that age doing that, anybody really doing that," a student said.

Students said they were just alerted through email Friday, five days after the incident. Some of them said they don't know what took the university so long to let them know.

"It doesn't necessarily irk me that we just got notified, but it does make you question a little but, why it took so long to notify us," a student said.

Channel 9 reached out to the university about their notification, the incident, and safety on campus.

They responded with this statement:

The Wingate University campus was notified today of an altercation that occurred last Sunday after two female students filed a police report with law enforcement on Thursday evening. The notification was made when Wingate University campus safety learned more details about the altercation through its own investigation. During the investigation, it was determined a third male student was assaulted.

On Sunday, the three students initially declined treatment. One later went to the hospital and was treated and released.

The investigation has revealed a juvenile was responsible for the altercation.

At Wingate University, safety is our top priority. We have officers that are visible on campus including Wingate University campus safety, and off duty officers hired by the university from the Wingate Police Department  and Union County Sheriff's Office. 

Emergency phones are stationed throughout the campus. Last year, additional lighting was installed across campus. We encourage students to walk in pairs and any suspicious or dangerous activity should be reported immediately to Campus Safety at 704.233.8999 , or in the event of an emergency, 911.

Cox Media Group