'Three Department of Public Safety officers and one student were hospitalized early Sunday morning after a fight broke out in front of the Reiss Science Building. An additional student was treated on the scene.

DPS responded shortly after midnight to calls that a fight had broken out among a large group of students heading from Henle Village toward Red Square. The officers encountered the crowd of students across from Reiss and attempted to disperse and calm the group when more violence flared. DPS notified the Metropolitan Police Department, which arrived within eight minutes, according to DPS Director Darryl Harrison.

Officers Timothy Desmond, Leroy Jackson and Ghedlom Kiros all received bruises in the torso from strikes with a blunt object. One of the officers was more severely injured, suffering lacerations on his head and required stitches. All three were admitted to Georgetown University Hospital and were released by 7 a.m. on Sunday morning.

Several other students were knocked down and injured as the crowd fled the scene, but only the two student injuries were reported. Blood stains were still visible yesterday afternoon on the sidewalk beside the benches between Red Square and the Leavey Center.

At one point, DPS blocked access to the area between Reiss and Henle as witnesses were questioned. MPD searched the area but no arrests were made and the officers did not gather much information about the suspects. As of yesterday evening, the investigation remained active and DPS was still looking to speak with students who witnessed either the fight or its origins.

“We’re taking this investigation very seriously,” Harrison said, “particularly with three officers down.”

In a campus-wide public safety alert sent out by e-mail last night, the Office of University Safety encouraged students with any information about the incident to contact DPS.

Vice President for University Safety David Morrell said he remained confident that regular DPS patrols would be able to maintain campus safety. He also said he did not believe it was necessary to increase scrutiny of visitors coming onto campus, though he said that “having an open campus brings issues with it.”

Daniel Rendelman (COL ’09) was returning home along the pathway shortly after the officers were injured and witnessed the aftermath of the incident. He recalls seeing five to six officers gathered around another officer clutching his head. “Girls were crying and I saw one student knocked down when the crowd ran by,” he said.'