Masked man with replica gun terrorizing Oregon campus

A man in a Guy Fawkes masked has been lurking around the UO campus and sorority houses at night

Multiple reports have been made regarding a man on Oregon campus at night wearing a Guy Fawkes mask.

He has been making students feel uncomfortable by knocking on and shining a flashlight under their doors.

The mask is also a symbol for Anonymous, the online vigilante group

On May 4th, at about 5:30 p.m. a female student said she was walking along 18th street near the softball field and saw the masked man. She said she felt uneasy because he had a holster on his side carrying, which was thought to be a weapon. Later on, it was rumored that this weapon was not real.

“When he saw me looking at him, he pointed directly at me,” the student recalled. She nervously walked across the street away from the man, who was then following her. While on the other side of the street, some male students saw this situation unfolding and yelled at her to cross the busier street not worrying about getting hit by a car. As she did this, luckily a police car pulled up in between her and the masked figure, keeping him on the other side of the street and stopping him from following her.

“There was definitely a moment when I thought ‘this is where I die’.” Thankfully this was not the case!

On the same day, students received a Campus Crime Alert saying:

“Law enforcement activity is occurring near 18th avenue and Onyx street. Keep away from the area.” However, it was never disclosed that this was linked to the same situation officially.

UO Police Department’s Communications Director and Public Information Officer, Kelly McIver, said: “There is not an active investigation going on because there have not been any official reports made on this individual.”

McIver explained that even though the police are aware that this individual makes people uncomfortable with his behavior, they cannot do anything because no allegations of him harming someone have been made. Also, he said that wearing the mask around is not technically a crime.

Despite this being the case, McIver encouraged students to report if this individual does actually threaten to harm anyone in any way.

One UO student, Saba Khajavi, said: “It is so unsettling that there have and continues to be a group that is terrorizing students on my university’s campus.”

Various social media accounts have been blowing up about this ongoing harassment.

Recently, students who live off campus have been posting on their social media accounts that they have seen a person wearing a mask pass their apartments headed towards sorority row. Some have even posted that this masked person has tried knocking on their doors and would shine their flashlight underneath the doors. This has put many students on edge and concerned about their safety at night.

Many are also wondering why the campus police have kept this under wraps for so long. Rumors have been flying that they are just keeping an eye out on these figures even though they are causing anxiety among students. Khajavi said:  “The thing that is most unsettling and disturbing is the fact that the university, campus police and police are not notifying any of the students. Instead, I and many of my fellow students are finding out about these incidents from each other.”

Another student recently posted that she saw a masked figure walk by her apartment one night and that, “he was heading northbound on Alder street going towards Greek row and campus.”

The man’s alleged Twitter handle is @TheAntimous and has certainly caused a stir in the UO community.

Now the major questions that are dancing through the minds of students are “Who is this mysterious masked figure?”.

An email has just circulated to all UO students confirming the incident, stating: “He has not made any verbal or physical threats”.

According to the email, he has, “carried a toy or replica pistol”.  However, due to the fact he’s not technically breaking the law, they are unable to apprehend him.

Students, until the university and the campus police get this situation completely under control it is important to stay safe. Don’t go walking alone at night and never open the door for anyone who looks suspicious. The safety of all students on and off this campus should be the utmost importance and should never be jeopardized.

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University of Oregon