(MADISON, Wisc.) — Police are urging people to send in surveillance footage after a University of Wisconsin-Madison student was found beaten off-campus over the weekend in a “horrific” attack.
The woman was found around 3:20 a.m. Sunday on a block in downtown Madison, police said. A person who lives in the area called police after finding the victim “severely beaten,” the Madison Police Department said. The victim was physically and sexually assaulted, according to police.
No arrests have been announced in the attack, which police said appeared to involve a stranger.
The department is calling for anyone who lives within four blocks of the area where the incident occurred — in particular those who may have been away over the holiday weekend — to submit all surveillance footage, including from vehicles such as Teslas.
“Detectives and investigators over the weekend gathered physical, digital and biological evidence. We are still in need of any surveillance video from this area,” Madison police said in an update Tuesday.
The victim, who is in her 20s, was transported in critical condition to a local hospital, police said. She is expected to survive her injuries, police said Tuesday.
Police said they are making “significant progress” in the case, calling it a “top priority.”
“I have authorized a full complement of police resources to bring this person or persons to justice,” Madison Police Chief Shon Barnes said during a press briefing Sunday.
Police continued to urge people to be on “high alert” in the area. Patrols in the area have been increased in the wake of the attack, police said.
“It was just kind of terrifying because I was like, that kind of could’ve been me,” Wisconsin student Azza Bayoudh told Milwaukee ABC affiliate WISN. “So that’s what scared me. So we have our doors locked now and we hope they catch whoever it was.”
Madison police said they are working with university leadership amid the investigation.
“We are deeply concerned for this individual, keeping them and their family in our thoughts and providing all possible support,” UW-Madison Dean of Students Christina Olstad and UW Police Chief Kristen Roman said in an alert to the school community regarding the “violent and severe attack.”
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