EDMOND OK May 1 2012 — University of Central Oklahoma officials will evaluate security measures after the weekend incident involving the alleged abduction and shooting of a student, an official said.
Two men have been arrested in the alleged weekend kidnapping, beating, robbery and shooting of the student, OSBI spokeswoman Jessica Brown said. At about 9 p.m. Friday, a 23-year-old man picked up two unknown men in the parking lot of the Central Plaza Apartments on the UCO campus.
Jeff Harp, UCO’s executive director of Police Services, said Central Plaza was locked following normal security procedures Friday night, which would have prevented the suspects from entering the facility unless they were with a resident.
At this time the information campus police have is that the victim met them outside the facility and then willingly and without duress departed campus in a vehicle, Harp said.
“Incidents like this are very rare, especially for UCO,” Harp said. “As with all incidents that are reported to us, we have and will continue to evaluate security and safety measures in light of what occurred and make changes when necessary.”
Brown said during a drive along Interstate 35, the two men pulled a gun on the victim, robbed and beat him. The beating lasted about a half hour as the three drove to the area of Interstate 35 and Seward Road, Brown said.
“At some point the victim was shot one time in the leg,” she said. “The car then swerved off the road and hit an embankment. The two males ran from the scene leaving the victim inside the car.”
Shortly after, a passerby noticed the victim badly beaten inside the car in the middle of Douglas Boulevard just north of Seward, Brown said. That passerby called 911 at about 10 p.m. Friday, she said.
Since the victim did not know the two suspects, OSBI agents and Logan County sheriff’s deputies spent the night identifying and tracking down the two, ultimately discovering them inside an apartment at Langston University at about 8:30 a.m. Saturday, Brown said.
A search warrant was served by OSBI agents with the help of Langston University police at the Centennial Court Apartments dorm, Brown said.
After searching the apartment and finding evidence of the crime, two arrests were made, Brown said.
Randale Anderson, 19, and Sir Demarco Dartnayon Bledsoe, 23, were arrested on complaints of robbery and kidnapping, Brown said.
The suspects were booked in to the Logan County Jail, Brown said. More charges are expected. Anderson is a student at Langston and was living at the dorm where the two suspects were found, Brown said.
Each suspect faces one kidnapping complaint and one robbery complaint, according to the Logan County Sheriff’s Office. Arraignment, when a suspect is advised of charges, was scheduled for 1:30 p.m. Monday.
Brown said the victim was flown to the OU Medical Center and underwent surgery for the gunshot wound to his leg. He is expected to make a full recovery, she said.
source:edmund sun
