Concerns over crime near Temple University continue to rise after a group of teens were captured on video attacking a man at one of the school’s busiest intersections.
The attack occurred around 4 p.m. on Wednesday at the corner of Broad and Cecil B. Moore Avenue. Video posted on social media shows several teenagers repeatedly punch and kick the unidentified man, knocking him to the ground.
“They were chasing him, throwing a traffic cone at him,” Veronica Rin, a Temple University freshman who witnessed the attack, told NBC10. “Eventually they cornered him near the Cecil B. station which you can see in the video.”
Rin told NBC10 both she and her friend stepped in to help the victim.
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“Something needs to be done,” Rin said. “I should have never been in that situation.”
Rin said two security guards dressed in yellow stood back and didn’t intervene as she and her friend tried to disperse the crowd.
“I thought that I could be safe going here,” Rin said. “But in a situation like that I didn’t feel that way at all.”
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Dr. Jennifer Griffin, Temple University’s director of public safety, told NBC10 the role of security guards is only to report troublesome activity.
“They’re not trained and that’s not the role for them but yes, it definitely doesn’t look good and we really appreciate the students who stepped in and engaged as well,” Dr. Griffin said.
Dr. Griffin said the guards called the police and the crowd dispersed once they arrived. She also said the man who was attacked declined to press charges.
Wednesday’s attack is only the latest violent incident to have occurred on or near Temple’s campus within the past few months. In January, a Temple student was attacked by four suspects in an attempted robbery, police said.
That incident occurred only a night before Temple University held a scheduled student town hall meeting to allow students to ask the university’s president and vice president of public safety questions about campus safety.
Ahead of Temple University’s Spring 2023 semester, the university sent a message about safety updates and developments to students which included student town hall meetings to take place in January and February.
The planned safety updates include adding more cameras and replacing those that need repair, addressing safety issues in dorms, and increased lighting along streets, according to Dr. Griffin.
Despite the university’s attempts to address the violence, Temple senior John Mangan doesn’t feel like his school is transparent enough. He created the Instagram account “Keep Us Safe TU” a few months ago to report on crime near campus.
“The heart of the problem with everything going on at this university right now is the detachment from leadership,” Mangan said.
Dr. Griffin told NBC10 Temple is always looking at how it’s deploying resources, technology and working with Philadelphia Police to keep everyone safe.
“I am concerned,” Dr Griffin said. “We are all working on a daily basis how we can make this campus safer. How we can make the community safer.”
A Temple spokesperson said they’re working with students to continue the conversation on safety and will also continue to address safety concerns during their town hall meetings.
