Trinity Park Residents Reach Out to Shooting Victim

In the aftermath wake of a shooting of a Duke undergraduate student this past weekend, Trinity Park residents met Tuesday night to support the student and to exchange ideas on making the neighborhood adjoining Duke's East Campus safer.

Neighborhood Association President Linda Wilson told more than 60 residents Tuesday night that she hoped to work with students to improve safety and to promote safe behavior.

"This is a neighborhood where we take pride in our ability to walk in safety," said a resident. "We want the students to feel the same way."

Residents signed notes of support for the student and added them to large food basket from Parker & Otis, purchased by Wilson and the Neighborhood Association for the student.

The student and a woman were in the 500 block of Watts Street, about one block from East Campus, when a man approached them from behind shortly after midnight early Sunday morning. Durham police said the man ordered the pair to put their hands on their heads and started to search them. Police said a struggle over a gun ensued and two shots were fired.

The suspect was described as black in his 40s, with bulging eyes, about 5 feet 11 inches tall with a stocky build.

Initial reports indicated that a pellet gun was used in the shooting, but speaking at the Trinity Park meeting Tuesday, Durham Police Lt. Lyle O'Neal said investigators were still collecting information about the type of gun used in the shooting. Based on witness statements and the injuries to the victim, police said they now believe the gun "was something more than a pellet gun."

O'Neal said it was unclear how many shots were fired or whether the shots were deliberate or fired during the struggle. Witnesses saw the suspect fleeing with an unnatural walk, but O'Neal said it was not confirmed that he had been shot.

As of Tuesday night the student was still in Duke University Hospital following surgery, but Duke officials said he is expected to make a full recovery.

University officials have been in regular communication with the student and his family. Members of the Dean of Students staff met the student's mother at the airport and drove her to the hospital. Vice President Larry Moneta and Dean of Students Sue Wasiolek were there in the student's room when she arrived.

Since that first day, the student has been receiving regular visits from Amy Powell, an assistant dean of students who works on cases needing special attention, to the student through the first stages of his recovery.

Doctors and PT recommend the student not over-exert himself when he returns to his apartment at the end of next week. Therefore, Powell is working with professors to limit his class attendance requirements to those where his attendance is mandatory. She is also working to provide the student with transportation service until such time as he is cleared by doctors to resume fully normal activity.

At Tuesday's meeting Durham officials told Trinity Park residents that additional patrols have been added to the neighborhood since the shooting.

At the meeting, residents offered suggestions for improving neighborhood safety, including more active neighborhood block watches, better street and porch lighting and trimming of overgrown bushes and trees to improve visibility. Several residents expressed interest in donating money to boost the reward offered by Crimestoppers for information leading to an arrest in the weekend crime.

Anyone with information about the incident is asked to call CrimeStoppers at (919) 683-1200 or Duke Police at 684-2444. Crimestoppers pays cash rewards for information leading to arrests in felony cases, and callers do not have to identify themselves.