Stabbing leaves student with punctured lung

What began as a dispute over laundry escalated into a stabbing Friday night in Vanderslice Hall, landing one sophomore student in a local hospital with a punctured lung. Brianna Jones, CSOM '09, was arrested and will be arraigned today on charges of aggravated assault and assault and battery. She is currently in custody in Boston's District 14.

"Given that the incident remains under investigation, we have no comment other than to confirm that the assailant has been arrested for aggravated assault and assault and battery," said University Spokesman Jack Dunn. "She has also been issued a summary suspension by the University."

According to an anonymous source who is a friend of the victim, the argument began Monday while the two girls were doing laundry. The victim had her clothes in a Vanderslice dryer when Jones allegedly removed them, putting her own clothes in the dryer. The victim returned to find her clothes removed, pulled out Jones' clothes, and put her own load back in. Jones then removed the victim's clothes once again and put them in bleach.

The source said the victim did not do anything to retaliate until Friday night. The victim, who lives across the hall from Jones, ripped Jones' name tag off her residence hall door. Jones then came out into the hall to confront the victim, and a verbal shouting match ensued.

According to the source, who visited the victim that night in the hospital, a parent of one of the girls in the suite also came out into the hallway and was "egging on the fight, but not throwing any punches herself." Two male friends of the victim pulled the parties apart and walked with the victim to Walsh Hall to get away from the scene.

Upon returning to Vanderslice Hall, the victim found Jones and the parent waiting for her in the foyer by the Mods. The fighting turned physical in front of about five eyewitnesses, said the source, and Jones pinned the victim to the floor. At this point, one girl who was an eyewitness yelled, "Put that away - you don't need that right now," probably in reference to the knife used in the stabbing, said the source.

After one of the male friends who returned to Vanderslice Hall once again succeeded in pulling the girls apart, they took the victim back to Walsh Hall. It was then that they discovered that the victim had been stabbed two times in the left breast. The knife used in the stabbing was probably a switchblade, though this was not confirmed by eyewitnesses. It has not yet been found by investigators.

After discovering his friend's injury, one of the male friends called the Boston College Police Department, which responded by taking statements of the eyewitnesses and taking Jones into custody. The girls living in Jones' suite were sent to a hotel.

"[The victim] was taken to the hospital where she received surgery," said the source. "She had surgery for wounds that were about three inches deep. She had a punctured lung."

Throughout the course of the events, no Residential Life officials or resident assistants were present. "I had to call Eddie Diaz [the Resident Director of Vanderslice Hall] myself," said the source. Diaz then made calls to administrators and ResLife officials on campus, but still no RAs or officials arrived at the scene until after police statements had been taken.

"It's a tragedy when anything like this happens, and the University is taking steps to ensure the safety of everyone involved and provide any pastoral needs they may have at this point," said Interim Dean for Student Development Paul Chebator. "Myself, Sgt. Farro, and two ResLife staff members went to the dorm last night and offered them services through Campus Ministry, counseling services, and Critical Incident Stress Management."

"Our thoughts and prayers go out to the victim, who is recovering at Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital, and is expected to be released on Monday," said Dunn.

Editor's note: This article has been updated to clarify several non-material facts since it was published Monday, Feb. 26.