Student injured in shooting criticizes University security

The College senior disputed the police accounts of the attempted carjacking. The student who was shot in a failed off-campus carjacking criticized the University yesterday for failing to keep the area safe and sought to correct the "partially incorrect or totally incorrect" information that he said was being spread about Monday's incident. College senior James McCormack said he is "feeling pretty well" and is "sore but better" after being released from the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania Wednesday night. McCormack was treated for a gunshot wound to the abdomen suffered during an attempted carjacking on the 4200 block of Pine Street Monday at 9:35 p.m. Monday. He refused to provide details of what happened before he was shot, but stressed that the information provided by police is not completely accurate. According to official University Police accounts of the incident, a man approached McCormack as he stood by the trunk of his silver grey Ford Taurus. The man then demanded his keys and, when McCormack did not hand them over, shot him in the abdomen. McCormack was immediately rushed to the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, where doctors decided not to operate to remove the bullet, which is still lodged in his thigh. University Police -- who were unavailable for comment last night -- have said from the beginning that their information is preliminary, and that they are continuing to investigate the incident. And because University and Philadelphia detectives have been working on the case together, it was not immediately clear which officers interviewed McCormack before he left the hospital. Although police have said that McCormack refused to hand over his keys to the carjacker, the student stressed that "the idea that I resisted giving him anything is wrong." He added that he did refuse one of the robber's orders: to get into the Ford Taurus. "The only request that I denied the guy is that I was not going to get into my car," McCormack said. He declined to explain the circumstances under which the assailant -- who has not yet been arrested -- ordered him into the car, but he said he didn't think his actions would have stopped the robber from shooting him anyway. "I think he already decided he would shoot me," McCormack said. "He already was going for his gun when I put my hands up." McCormack also rejected the idea that he -- or any other student -- should automatically hand over their belongings to a robber or carjacker. "I don't think students should just give in," he said. "Or why not have a line of robbers come down here one after another?" This attitude differs sharply from statements by Penn and police officials urging students to give up whatever a robber wants and seek to protect themselves. Director of Special Services Susan Hawkins stressed that while second-guessing a victim's decisions is extremely harmful to the healing process, students should usually follow an assailant's orders. "If he tries to force you to another location, that is that time to take whatever action is necessary to avoid going with the assailant," she added in an e-mail to a Daily Pennsylvanian reporter. McCormack also criticized the University for failing to provide a safe on- and off-campus environment for students. When told that most major crimes significantly decreased from last fall to this year, he said, "It's like going from horrendous to worse. As usual, the University wants to gloss everything over." Unlike many residents of the neighborhood where he was shot, McCormack called for a greater police and Spectaguard presence and better lighting. In interviews following the shooting, a number of residents along the 4200 block of Pine Street credited the University with deploying police officers virtually every 10 minutes after dark. McCormack suggested that one possible solution would be for the University to purchase much of the property around campus and rent it to students as one part of a necessary effort to "help better the neighborhood." "The University just needs to take some steps to reduce the whole concept of crime occurring," he said.

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