Mandatory Credit: Richard Mackson-US PRESSWIRE
Syracuse cut short their annual open practice on Friday after a man was allegedly stabbed at the event and taken to a local hospital. The event was part of ‘Midnight Madness’, a national even that signals the official start of the college basketball season.
According to Syracuse police Sgt. Tom Connellan, the man was stabbed around 9:30pm ET and was promptly taken to Upstate University Hospital where he was treated and held overnight. Sgt. Connellan said that the stabbing occurred inside the Carrier Dome, near one of the concession stands and was part of a series of fights that broke out during the event.
Interestingly enough, none of people involved in the fights, including the stabbing victim, were students of Syracuse or in any way affiliated with the University.
After the fights were broken up, the University decided to end the open practice a half hour early. Syracuse chancellor Nancy Cantor and Athletic Director Daryl Gross released s statement regarding the incident:
“We were saddened to learn of the incident at the Dome last night. There is no place and no tolerance for anything like this, and future Orange Madness events will be designed to prevent incidents such as this. We are proud of the terrific partnership among Syracuse City Police, SU Department of Public Safety and Carrier Dome security staff, and we are confident that their work will continue to maintain a safe and secure environment for our patrons who come to the Dome to enjoy the hard work and efforts of our student-athletes.”
-Statement issued by Syracuse chancellor Nancy Cantor and AD Daryl Gross
The university is going on the defensive when it comes to security at future Orange events, stressing that this type of incident is rarely seen and that crime at the Carrier Dome and on the Syracuse campus is “not the norm.”
Syracuse sent out an e-mail alert last night informing students and faculty of the incident and urging that anyone with information regarding the incident come forward and help in the investigation.
