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SALT LAKE CITY — Police are looking for a man in a Halloween costume who they say raped a University of Utah student at gunpoint Monday afternoon.
The woman was walking to her car, parked in the open lot by the Merrill Engineering Building, about 12:15 p.m. when an armed man wearing a Grim Reaper-style Halloween mask forced her into the back seat and sexually assaulted her, according to University of Utah Police Sgt. Garth Davis.
The assailant fled the area on foot, Davis said.
"We're putting out as much information as we can in hopes that we can find someone really quick," he said. "It's not a lot to go on, but it's what we have."
The woman was being examined at University Medical Center on Monday afternoon, Davis said.
A news release from the police department and a safety alert sent to students described the suspect as a 6-foot-tall man wearing all black and a Halloween mask.
While costumes are common on campus on Halloween, a factor that Davis said may complicate locating the suspected assailant, the sergeant hasn't seen a spike in crime on the holiday.
"In my memory of working here, I've been here 17 years, this is the first (sexual assault) I've seen on a Halloween night," he said.
Police were searching for any evidence in the woman's car, Davis said. There are no security cameras in the lot that would have captured the attack, he said.
To keep students safe on Halloween night, the university is offering free escorts around campus 24 hours a day, Davis said. An escort can be requested by contacting university police.
Police are looking for witnesses to the incident, which happened in the middle of the day in a busy parking lot, or for anyone who may have information about the case, Davis said.
Anyone with information about the case or who would like to request a campus escort is asked to call University of Utah police at 801-585-2677.
