Fighting breaks out at UCCI
Two assaults on students at the University College of the Cayman Islands this week sent three people to hospitals and forced both police and school security to beef up their presence at the campus.
The first incident occurred Monday morning. Police said an 18-year-old student got into a fight with another person in the bathroom of the UCCI workshop building.
The fight spilled into the hallway and was eventually broken up by a security guard. The 18-year-old student suffered head injuries and was taken to hospital by the school’s provost. He was in stable condition at press time, but school officials said the teen’s family was expected to take him to a Miami hospital for further observation.
The second fight broke out Tuesday morning in the school cafeteria, according to police. Officers said two students, aged 16 and 17, were assaulted by two men who entered the building carrying a baseball bat. The incident later moved into the school parking lot.
One of the teenage students suffered a cut to his head, and both suffered bruises in the attack. They were treated and released from hospital later the same day.
A 23-year-old and a 24-year-old man were arrested on suspicion of assault causing actual bodily harm in connection with the Tuesday incident. No arrests had been made in the Monday fight as of press time.
Police declined to discuss motives for either of the attacks, and said they were looking into the possibility that the incidents were connected.
School President Mr. Hassan Syed told the Caymanian Compass he thought that possibility was unlikely.
Mr. Syed said according to information he had obtained, the first fight involved a dispute over a girl. He said the second fight happened after two men in a Honda CRV showed up at the campus looking to obtain some property they believed belonged to them.
He said the two men arrested in connection with the Tuesday attack were not UCCI students. Mr. Syed said the other person involved in Monday’s assault in the bathroom was believed to be a former student. Police would not confirm that.
Mr. Syed said two additional security guards would be added to patrol the UCCI campus and help ensure students’ safety in the days ahead. Royal Cayman Islands Police officers were also dispatched to the campus on Tuesday and were expected to remain there for the near future.
‘This is the first time in our history that something like this has happened,’ Mr. Syed said. ‘We got an immediate response from police. You don’t want any of these incidents, but it’s not like a pattern or a trend.’
School response
RCIPS reports show the first call police received about the Monday morning assault came in at 9.30am, about an hour after the fight broke out. The 9-1-1 call was also received from the hospital, not the campus.
Mr. Syed said the school’s provost was the person who actually took the student injured in Monday’s attack to hospital. He said he did not know who called 9-1-1 from there. Police records indicate it was the student’s family.
‘Police were here (Monday) on the campus and they took statements from the registrar,’ Mr. Syed said. ‘We sent all the information to them (the police).’
Mr. Syed also noted the office of the provost had contacted the police. He wasn’t sure what time those calls had been made.
The Tuesday fight was reported to 9-1-1 at about 11.15am. Again, police said that call was made by a relative of one of the students who had been attacked, not school officials.
Mr. Syed said he personally phoned Police Commissioner Stuart Kernohan following Tuesday’s incident to inform the commissioner about what had occurred. A police spokesperson confirmed that the call had been made, but wasn’t sure about the time of the call.
Police officers were dispatched to keep an eye on the UCCI campus later the same day.
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