On Wednesday December 9, 2015 at approximately 8:24 pm, an unidentified white male attempted to break into SMAD classroom 101 in Harrison Hall on the James Madison University Campus.
Five SMAD female students were working in the Harrison classroom, four of them on a group project while the other student was working alone.
I was one of the students working on my school project when I looked up at the door, and noticed a suspicious middle-aged white male at the door of the classroom attempting to break in. I then informed the others in the classroom, “There’s a creepy dude outside of the classroom.” The man walked away, I then stood up and proceeded to peer out the door window, watching the man peer into the classroom across the hall, he appeared to attempt to get in that classroom as well.
Frightened, we all arose from our seats processing the scenario, “What is he doing out there? Maybe we should call the police,” Darcy, 21, stated. As we were deciding to call on the police the man returned to the door and began to violently rattle and shake on the door for approximately three minutes.
My group members and myself, our bodies shaking and hearts pounding, huddled to the corner of the classroom to be out of sight from the man in the door window.
As the man continuously and violently banged on the door for approximately 60 seconds, the other female student who we did not know prior to this, crawled across the classroom under the middle row of desks to hide with us to escape from his field of vision.
Myers, 20, dialed the JMU campus police number and I proceeded to talk to the operator on the phone. She informed me that she had two officers on the way to Harrison Hall and that they would be there soon.
Within minutes the police came, asking us more questions about the male. He was middle aged, overweight at approximately 210 lbs. with balding dark gray hair in a buzz cut. He was wearing blue jeans and a grey peacoat. I filed a JMU incident report with them and they informed us that the intruder had not been caught.
As SMAD students know, the SMAD classrooms are locked and to enter them, one must be a SMAD major and swipe their JAC card to enter the room. Normally, when someone knocks on the door, it is a fellow JMU student mentioning, “Hey, I forgot my JAC card, can you let me in?”
"We're all upperclassmen and have been in the labs a million times, especially late at night, and we were all extremely frightened by the abnormality of the situation" Myers, 20, stated.
What struck others and myself in the classroom was that the man did not say anything, he was in normal street clothing, and carried nothing with him. In our minds, there was no way he was a student and aggressively banged on the door in an intimidating manner.
The only thought racing through my mind was fear, and the fact that we were so fortunate that the classrooms were locked.
This is just a reminder to my fellow JMU community, especially female students to be aware on and off campus at all times and to never hesitate to contact the authorities if you feel threatened. Even if you feel a minor threat, it’s better to be safe than sorry, it could save your life.
