Published 2011-12-06T19:39:00Z”/>

Juniper Rose

A lack of cooperation and information has hindered the investigation of the stabbing of a Butte College student on Nov. 30.

The student, Joshua Lovie, 22, was standing outside his house across the street from the Wildcat Recreation Center when a man ran up and stabbed him in the right side of his torso, Chico police Sgt. Billy Aldridge said. The stabbing occurred at 9:45 a.m. on the 700 block of West First Street.

The wound was not life-threatening, Aldridge said. Lovie declined medical attention and was not willing to go to the hospital by ambulance.

Chico police were called to the scene by a neighbor who witnessed the incident, he said. Officers searched the surrounding areas for the suspect and were unable to locate him.

The motive behind the stabbing is unknown and no property was stolen from the victim, Aldridge said.

“According to the victim it was a ‘random act,'” Aldridge said. “Usually what that means is that there was more involved, stuff that the victim doesn’t want to tell us.”

Lovie could not be reached for comment.

Typically in a stabbing like this it is somehow drug or gang related, Aldridge said. It could also have been a mistaken identity.

“He may not have known this guy but there is obviously some reason behind getting stabbed,” he said. “There’s some sort of an issue there, and it’s possible he knows what it is but doesn’t want us to know about it.”

The case is still under investigation and the police hope witnesses will come forward, Aldridge said.

“We’re still looking for possible leads, but right now we don’t have much information, simply because the victim is a bit uncooperative,” he said. “We’ll continue to talk to him, but if he is not cooperative and doesn’t want to help us there’s not really much we can do.”

Students feel that the safety of the campus community ultimately depends on individuals taking personal responsibility.

“It is important for each of us to be vigilant and aware of our surroundings,” said Robert Stevens, a second-year graduate student studying anthropology. “I know the Chico police and the police here on campus are doing everything they can to prevent that kind of thing, but eventually it just comes down to a personal awareness.”

Everyone is accountable for their own safety and should be be aware of their surroundings because events like this affect more than just one individual, they change the atmosphere of the campus,

Stevens said.

“People need to realize that we live in a community and to be part of a community means being able to trust that we are safe,” he said.

While acts like this could happen to anyone, some students don’t feel they are in danger.

“It’s weird because we hear about things like this all the time, but I’ve never felt afraid,” said Zach Mustaine, a fifth-year business administration major.

It unlikely that this situation was completely random and that the victim and the suspect did not have any relation, Mustaine said.

“I tend to think that people ask for it somehow,” he said. “It’s not necessarily a one-sided thing.”

While campus generally seems safe, the areas surrounding campus seem to be getting increasingly more dangerous, said Andrew Singleton, a fifth-year business information systems major.

On campus Singleton feels safe, but the edges of campus “feels sketchy,” he said.

In the past two years it has been getting worse, Singleton said.

“With increasing tuition and such, people are starting to get more desperate and there is animosity toward the college kids from people who can’t afford to go to college or dropped out,” he said. “It just seems like a lot more random stuff has been happening.”

<hr />

<strong>Juniper Rose can be reached at</strong>

<em>[email protected]</em>