Campus Responds to Stabbing On Campus

By Justin McDaniel | Published October 19, 2023

“ In totality, it took eleven and a half minutes, from the time the altercation started to the time the victim was transported to the hospital. And I can honestly say that time did save his life, or we could be having a different conversation right now.” 

That was the response from Kean University President, Lamont O. Repollet during his community forum after a Kean student was the victim of a stabbing on Tuesday, Sept. 23 outside the basketball courts near the Miron center. 

Described as an isolated incident, police said two young male suspects were looking for trouble around the school by shoving people. When a Kean student responded, the suspects fled the area on bikes after the stabbing him at around 8:15 pm. Cameras were being used to identify the suspects.  

A quick-acting Kean PD was on the scene within three minutes and the victim was transported to the hospital around 8:26 pm.  Phone messages were sent out notifying all staff, faculty and students about the stabbing shortly after 9 pm. The student, whose name has not been released, is reportedly in stable condition and was still in the hospital a week after the incident. 

“ To make clear this was not a random act, The Kean PD investigation is ongoing and it has been clear that this was an altercation involving people who came from outside the campus, it was an isolated incident, ” President Repollet said. 

On Oct. 10, President Repollet reported that an arrest had finally been made regarding the stabbing. The juvenile, from Elizabeth, faces charges of possession of a weapon, possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose, and aggravated assault. 

“I am grateful to the KUPD, law enforcement agencies in Elizabeth and surrounding municipalities, as well as the Union County Prosecutor’s Office for their efforts in investigating this crime.” said President Repollet following the arrest in his statement to all staff, faculty, and students. 

 A community forum on wellness was put together quickly and invited all members of the campus community to attend after the incident took place. 

During the Forum, President Repollet assured everyone that while Kean will remain an open campus the Kean police department will be patrolling more often with security present at the clock tower and basketball courts frequently throughout the day and into the night. 

However, even with some of the changes coming to ensure a safer campus, some students are still unsure of how to feel about the incident with some more worried than others. 

“ I feel safe at Kean. I live on campus and feel as though the police do a good job patrolling the campus. But there is always that thought that anything can happen because it is an open campus. So especially with something like this happening now it just makes you want to keep your guard up more because anything could happen,”  said Samantha Pepe, a psychology major. “ Honestly, My initial reaction was feelings of sadness when I heard about the situation, I was hoping the victim of the stabbing was okay. I hate that everyone can’t just be peaceful without violence, especially being so young.”

Since the incident Kean has done what they can to make everyone feel safe by having more security and police present on campus, checking for Kean IDs more frequently, and the blue light phones are on and activated for anyone in need in case of emergency.

“ Our crime rate is low and we knew to beef up our security on the campus when this happened, we had two security guards and a police officer on the field. You just can’t look 360 all the time,” said Anthony Monticello,  Director of Public Safety at Kean, who was also at the forum. “ It starts with if you see something say something. That is very important when it comes to these things. Crimes are solved by the people, not the police.”

Despite the incident, students were still able to get through the week and even had their annual “Meet The Greeks” event on campus with no issues. And now with security more present on campus, the threat level of an incident like this happening again is low.

From the time this event took place, Kean has stepped up security, rave notifications, to being quick on the call in the need of an emergency, Kean has shown that if the danger comes they will be prepared for it and that preparation might just be what can save a life.

 “ In all my years here at Kean I’ve never seen anything like this happen,”  said Johan Civil, a Communication major. “It’s usually calm around campus and nothing ever this crazy so it was shocking to even hear that something like this happened. Just gotta be thankful the police and emergency services got him out of here quick to get the help he needed.”

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