Student shot, injured in failed carjacking

The student was shot in the abdomen in the incident on the 4200 block of Pine Street, but didn't suffer major injuries. A University senior was shot and wounded last night on the 4200 block of Pine Street during an attempted carjacking, police said. As of early this morning, the student remained hospitalized in stable condition. Although doctors at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania said the student's wounds did not require surgery, they admitted him overnight for observation, according to police. The student was shot in the abdomen during the incident, and the bullet then "reflected down and went into the most fleshy part of his thigh," University Police Det. Cmdr. Tom King said. The incident began around 9:30 p.m. when the senior -- whose name has not yet been released by police -- was approached by a man, while standing at the open trunk of his grey Ford Taurus in front of 4211 Pine Street. The man walked up to the student and ordered him to hand over his car keys, police said. When he refused, the man pulled out a short-barreled silver revolver and shot him. Witnesses told police that the man fled west on Pine Street, then south on 43rd Street and finally west on Osage Avenue. "At that point, witnesses lost sight of him," Managing Director of Public Safety Tom Seamon said. Police and University officials stressed that Penn and Philadelphia police officers are searching for the assailant, who witnesses described as an approximately 5'8" black man in his early 20s with some facial hair and an "unkempt appearance." When last seen, he was wearing a dark green jacket with a hood, dark pants and a black wool hat. "University Police and Philadelphia Police have a massive effort right now to find the perpetrator," University spokesperson Ken Wildes said. Last night's incident was the first shooting near campus since September 6, when Mark Caron of Frasier, Pa., was shot in the shoulder during a robbery at 41st and Sansom streets. Caron's girlfriend immediately drove him to HUP, where doctors said his injuries were not serious and released him within a few hours. Despite the two shootings and the 10 to 15 robberies at gunpoint so far this semester, this fall has been much calmer than the same period last year, when dozens of armed robberies culminated in the shooting of College senior Patrick Leroy and the stabbing death of University researcher Vladimir Sled. For example, while University Police responded to seven robberies at gunpoint in the first three weeks of school this year, there were 14 such incidents during the same time last fall. Last fall's crime wave prompted widespread student and parent outrage. Shortly afterwards, the University increased the size of its police force and boosted Spectaguard patrols. Since then, University City District safety ambassadors have also taken to the streets. Wildes called last night's incident extremely unfortunate, and contrasted it with this fall's relatively low campus crime rate. "We've gone to great lengths -- we're going to continue to go to great lengths -- to ensure the safety of our faculty and students and others," he said.

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