Student shot on St. Paul Street

A Johns Hopkins University student was shot on the buttocks early Wednesday morning while she attended a series of parties on the 3200 block of St. Paul Street. The suspect, a heavy-set white male who lives on the block, allegedly brandished a pellet gun and shot the victim at approximately 1:25 a.m., Baltimore City Police said.

The suspect was arrested by police and will likely be charged with first-degree aggravated assault, an officer on the scene said. Authorities refused to release the name of the suspect.

Hopkins Security Officer Walter Barnes took the victim to Union Memorial Hospital, where she received X-rays. She was released at approximately 4:30 a.m., Barnes' Security report states. She was not seriously injured.

"The pellet didn't get lodged," the victim said. "It skimmed [my skin] and went off."

Police responded to a call for a possible handgun violation, Baltimore City Police Officer L.S. Davidson said. When they arrived, the suspect concealed what police said appeared to be a black handgun.

"We felt unsafe approaching him," and treated it as if it was a real gun, Davidson said.

After detaining the suspect, who claimed that he had used the weapon to protect his property from partygoers, police explained to him that "he couldn't come out with a black gun."

"[We] let him know it looked like a real gun," Davidson said.

He explained that if the suspect had complaints about a party next door, he should have called police instead of brandishing a weapon.

The suspect was also very drunk, he added.

"I was standing about 18 inches away from the guy. He told me I had Oa nice ass,"" the victim said. "[Then] I turned around, heard a pop and then felt a stinging pain. I realized I'd been shot.

"I'm fine now," she said. "I'm from [around] here, and I'm used to the streets. Pretty much the only thing I'm sacred of is running into this guy again."

When asked about the incident, Dean of Students Susan Boswell said she was "shocked. [This] is not the kind of activity we are comfortable with."

Boswell stressed the importance of making Hopkins students more aware of the potential for incidents like this to occur, but said the victim had already taken necessary precautions.

"She was not out by herself," Boswell said. "She was doing everything we would tell her to."

Boswell said that she did not know about Tuesday night's parties in advance.

Though not affiliated with the University, the parties were sponsored by residents of seven houses on the block, including several undergraduates. The second annual "block party" was organized in an attempt to welcome freshmen and improve social life for Hopkins undergraduates.

Police stressed that they were responding to the handgun violation, not to the parties themselves.

"People are supposed to have fun," Davidson said. "[They] dispersed after we responded."

The victim said she had fun at the parties and that it was "unfortunate that this man, who wasn't a Hopkins student, was there."

"I was definitely in the wrong place at the wrong time," she said.