The Washington Post is reporting that Dominique T. Frazier, 18, a student at Bowie State University, was fatally stabbed Thursday night by her roommate during a fight inside a residential-housing building on campus, Maryland State Police said early Friday.
Clarence Williams and Matt Zapotosky report that Prince George's County police received a 911 call reporting a cutting at the Christa McAuliffe Residential Community building and responded along with campus police officers, state police said. University officers were the first to arrive and found the victim unconscious in a second-floor hallway of the apartment-style dorm.
The officers rendered emergency care until rescuers arrived and took the student to a hospital, where she was pronounced dead about 45 minutes later. Frazier's body will be taken to the state medical examiner's office in Baltimore for an autopsy, officials said.
Police say the 19-year-old roommate initially fled but turned herself in four hours later. She is being held in custody but has not been charged. Classes have been canceled, and grief counseling has been made available for students.
A statement on the school's website read, "This kind of senseless violence is difficult to understand," the statement said. "We understand from police that there is no apparent ongoing threat to the campus community and it is safe for students and employees.”
How sad is it to drop your child off to school for an education and to get her back in a body bag? Is it too much to ask for a safe environment for students on college campuses? We cannot understand how an argument can escalate to a physical fight, which then escalates to a murder. Stabbing your roommate to death. Really?
Colleges need to screen students better. Many colleges do not screen more carefully out of fear of being accused of discrimination. Others whose survival is dependent on enrollment don't care who they let into the college or university as long as the numbers are met. Here is a clear example of why they should care.
Read more at the Washington Post.
In other news: Obama Campaign Launches AttackWatch.com.