Police: only one suspect in stabbings
Police have concluded only one person stabbed the three Syracuse University students outside the Alpha Tau Omega fraternity house Sunday morning, said Sgt. Tom Connellan of the Syracuse Police Department.
‘At this point we have no other evidence that anyone else is involved in the stabbings,’ Connellan said.
Police have charged one man, Rashaun Cameron, 20, of Syracuse, with two counts of assault in the second degree and two counts of criminal possession of a weapon in the fourth degree, according to Onondaga County Justice Center records.
Connellan had no information on whether the counts will be amended to include the third stabbing. Rob Moran, an Onondaga County assistant district attorney, has been assigned to the case but did not return calls to his office Wednesday afternoon.
SU’s Department of Public Safety issued its first e-mail about the stabbings Wednesday at 1 p.m. DPS posted a response to the stabbings on the SU News Services Web site Sunday.
Cameron and three other men tried to enter a party at the ATO house early Sunday morning and were told by one of the three victims, Nick Condit, 20, to go around to the side door. ATO had security at the side door but not at the front, Condit said.
Cameron attacked Condit and stabbed him four times, Connellan said. Two other victims, John Tate, 19, and Ryan Saroya, 22, suffered knife wounds. The victims were taken to University Hospital and released by Monday, nursing staff said.
ATO brothers signaled a passing Department of Public Safety officer, who chased Cameron down on foot and arrested him near Harrison Street. The officer noticed Cameron toss a knife away during the pursuit, said DPS Chief Tony Callisto. Police recovered the knife near the 300 block of Marshall Street, Callisto said.
Police are still looking for the three men who scattered as the officer pursued Cameron, Callisto said. Investigators believe at least one other man may have played a part in the assault but do not believe he stabbed any of the victims, Connellan said. Cameron isn’t providing any names and no arrests are imminent, Connellan said.
Cameron is being held in the Onondaga County Justice Center on $20,000 bail, according to Justice Center records.
ATO followed the correct safety procedures Sunday morning and will not face any punishment, said Eddie Banks-Crosson, SU’s director of fraternity and sorority affairs. Banks-Crosson will work with DPS to review and possibly revise the existing safety policy in the coming weeks.
Published on September 27, 2009 at 12:00 pm
