Campus police are searching for a man behind multiple cases of indecent exposure at the Texas Tech University Library over the past few days.
According to the campus crime reports, all indecent exposure incidents occurred at this location.
The police report, which was released on Thursday, shows the first incident occurred on Oct. 10. A female student reported she was in a study carrel on the second floor stack-level at about 4:30 p.m., when the suspect knocked on the door. When she looked, she told police she saw a dark-skinned, black male exposing his genitals.
Stephen Hinkle, administrative captain with the Texas Tech Police Department, said the first incident is just one of three that have occurred and the suspect has yet to be apprehended. To ensure the safety of all students and patrons, campus security has been increased and library staff is on the lookout.
“They called library staff and the library called us,” Capt. Hinkle said, “and we searched the building at each time and did not find anybody who matched the description that was given to us.”
TTUPD released all three case reports through TechAnnounce on Friday.
A second campus crime alert indicates the most recent incident occurred on Friday at the same location. The police reports show the suspect in all three cases appears to be a black male, about six-feet tall, wearing a red T-shirt, and dark pants. It was also reported he is about 20 years old, with short hair, and some facial hair.
Justin McDonald, section coordinator and university library spokesperson, said they are aware of the situation and they encourage anyone who witnesses any such activity to report to the library staff immediately.
“I can assure you that the police are on top of that right now,” McDonald said, “and they are doing a very thorough investigation.”
If this should happen again, it is important for people not to overreact, he said. Doing so may scare the suspect away.
Security will be enhanced throughout the building.
“We try to take as many security precautions here in the library as we can,” McDonald said. “We do security rounds periodically throughout the library. We don’t have any official officers that are stationed here all day, but TTUPD does make rounds throughout the library day and night.
Capt. Hinkle with the campus police department said the suspect may be the same individual in all three cases. If anyone has any information, they should contact the police desk at 806-742-3931, 806-743-2000, or by dialing 9-1-1.
“We wanted to put this out there to let students, faculty and staff that work over there – or are studying – know that this is a person of interest to us,” Hinkle said, “If they see somebody that matches that description that is acting a little strange call us, call 9-1-1, and get us over there as quick as possible.”
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