Safety questions linger after CMU rape

MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. (WOOD) - The abduction and rape of a CMU coed Wednesday night by a man who was subsequently shot to death by police has many people wondering what university officials are doing in the wake of this incident.

CMU professor and sexual aggression services director Steve Thompson said, "Self-defense classes don't work."

The reason they don't, he said, is because a quick training class gives people a false sense of security.

It's more important to help people recognize how to be aware of their surroundings and safety.

"If I acknowledge it can happen to me, it's not about living in fear, it's about being realistic. It can happen to me, not what can I do to reduce the number of times I can be targeted," he said.

To avoid being targeted, do things like not being alone in dark areas with few or no witnesses.

But in Wednesday night's abduction and rape, Thompson said there were a lot of witnesses and it was a fairly well-lit area. It's a crime he doesn't understand, nor does he understand the though process of the criminal who did it.

"What could we have done to prevent him?" Thompson asked rhetorically. "I don't think anything. I think we could have every light on this campus on, a SWAT team behind every tree and it would have just pushed him someplace else."