daily illini staff report

The offenders of Monday’s pepper spray incident near the quad have been identified, according to a campus safety update sent by University police Tuesday evening.

The police received information that led to the identification of the “juvenile offender and others who were with that person at the time,” according to the brief. University police will continue to investigate.

The aggravated battery occurred Monday around 6:00 p.m. just south of the Illini Union at 1401 W. Green St., according to the initial campus safety notice sent out Tuesday morning.

The victim is a student who was approached by four women while walking, one of whom pepper sprayed her in the face. The offenders fled from the scene toward Wright Street. The student was not seriously injured. Security cameras are located in the area of the assault and captured images of the event but the offenders have not yet been identified.

The safety notice is the third in six days and the second aggravated battery. University of Illinois Police Spokesman Pat Wade said although it may appear to be an unusual amount of crime in a short time period, it shouldn’t necessarily be a cause for concern about crime on campus.

“Obviously any time we see three campus safety notices in one week, I wouldn’t call that a regular amount,” said Wade. “I wouldn’t read too much into the numbers; these are all unrelated things.”

Wade said anyone with information is urged to come forward.

“We released those (security camera) images with the hope that our campus community can help us out,” said Wade. “Any information anyone has would be really helpful with our investigation.”

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