Group assaults University of St. Thomas student at park near St. Paul campus

Officials say a group of people assaulted a University of St. Thomas student early Saturday morning in a park near campus in St. Paul.

According to an alert sent out to students from the University of St. Thomas Department of Public Safety, two students were walking along a path at Shadow Falls Park around midnight when they came across a "large group of people" blocking the path.

One of the suspects in the group appeared to be on a drug of some kind, and one of the students offered him a drink of water. At that point, the suspect threatened to stab the student and proceeded to lunge at him and punch him in the face. The suspect then grappled the student to the ground and put him in a chokehold, the alert states.

Two or three other suspects then reportedly pulled the student away from the other suspect while striking the student.

The student was able to get away and started running away from the suspects, according to the public safety department. The student reported hearing five or six gunshots while he was running away, and the suspects allegedly fled southbound down Mississippi River Boulevard away from campus.

One of the suspects was described as a 6-foot-tall male who was wearing shorts and no shirt and had tattoos on his shoulders and upper arms. There was no description of other suspects available.

Anyone with information related to this incident is asked to call the University of St. Thomas Department of Public Safety at 651-962-5100 or the St. Paul Police Department at 651-291-1111.