UPDATE: 2:25 p.m.
There were two victims, according to the U of I Mass email:
The first incident occurred at 8:25 PM, in the 400 block of E. John Street. A 20-year-old female reported walking in the crosswalk, on the east side of Fourth Street, and crossing John Street when she was struck by a blow dart in the left forearm. She received treatment for her injury at a local hospital.
The second incident occurred at 10:00 PM, in the 300 Block of S. First Street. A 35-yearold male reported to police that he was struck by a blow dart in the left forearm. He reported walking eastbound on the north side of Springfield Avenue and crossing First Street when he was injured. The victim reported immediately pulling the dart out of his arm and seeking medical treatment at a local Hospital.
h/t to Andrea Johnston and Suzanne Elise Kanet Zelle for that information.
***
Well, I can’t say I’ve ever seen or heard of something like this happening around here before. No doubt — this is some strange news coming from U of I’s campus. When I hear about violence on campus, this isn’t exactly what comes to mind.
According to a post on Reddit, a woman was shot with a blow dart (and a pretty god damn big one at that) yesterday while walking in Campustown around 4th and John Street.
Here’s the text from the post:
My friend was shot by a blow-dart today (8:20 pm) out at the intersection of 4th and John!
We were casually walking to Green to get some dinner when out of nowhere, she yelps in pain. I was thinking she stubbed her toe on a rock or something but when she inspected her arm, there was a 3 inch blow-dart going through her forearm!!! I immediately looked around for any suspicious activity but was not able to catch anything right away.
We disinfected it with over-the-counter products and filed a police report to open an investigation to find the perpetrator. The officer suggested to have her forearm examined for any infection or other symptoms, just to be safe. I took her to the ER at Carle to have her wound inspected and cleaned. Thankfully nothing seems to be serious…
My friend just feels lucky that she wasn’t hit anywhere else. If it had been a hit to the neck or to her torso…
I am not trying to point the finger to anybody in the area since there really is no proof, but I just wanted to throw out a warning when you’re out in that area! If you see any suspicious activity or find any blow-darts lying around, please PM me and let me know! It can be a huge clue to help our investigation to apprehend the idiot behind this.
An image of the dart
My friend’s arm while at the ER
Stay safe everyone!!!
Bizarre, and pretty unsettling. Stay safe, indeed.
