Johns Hopkins University student murdered

[WhiteKnight]

Christopher Elser, a student at Johns Hopkins, where I did my undergrad and am currently doing a PhD, was stabbed during the night on Friday night. He apparently awoke in the night to the sounds of an intruder in the fraternity house where he was staying. He was stabbed once in the arm and once the chest before the murderer fled. He managed to make it to another bedroom where he awakened a brother in the fraternity who called for help and tried to control the blood loss. Chris passed away this evening from his wounds after surgery was unable to save him.

Please keep Christopher Elser and his family in your thoughts and prayers tonight.

 

[Turkish]

 

[Nocturnal]

Defintely in my prayers. This is so sad.

 

[GoSharks]

April 17, 2004

Dear Students, Faculty and Staff:

Early this morning, one of our own became the victim of a terrible crime.

Christopher Elser, a junior in the Krieger School of Arts and Sciences, was awakened by an intruder in the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity house on St. Paul Street, where he was spending the night.

Chris was stabbed in the chest and arm, and the intruder fled. Chris was able to awaken another student, who helped to control his bleeding until emergency personnel arrived. Chris was taken to the R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center in Baltimore and immediately underwent surgery.

We are grateful for the skill and compassionate work of the surgical team. We understand that Chris's wounds were very serious and that the next day or so will be critical to the outcome.

Chris's parents and other relatives arrived in Baltimore this afternoon. Many of Chris's fraternity brothers and other friends have been to the hospital, where President Brody and I met with them this afternoon.

As President Brody has said, all of us at Johns Hopkins are deeply affected by this violent assault on a well-liked and respected member of our community. Our job now is to do anything we can to take care of Chris and to support his parents, family and many friends. Let me assure you that we are doing that, and will continue to do so.

It is important at time like this, when all of us are shocked and saddened by a terrible, sudden assault on one of us, that I remind you of the resources that are available to you should you need them. I encourage any student who wishes to do so to reach out to Residence Life staff, our peer counselors, our campus ministers, and, of course, the Counseling Center. For emergencies outside regular hours, the center's on-duty counselor can be reached through Security at 410-516-7777.

I know that you join me in including Chris, his family and friends in your thoughts and prayers, now and in the days to come.

Sincerely,

Susan Boswell
Dean of Student Life

April 18, 2004

Dear Students, Faculty and Staff,

The Johns Hopkins community has suffered a terrible loss. Christopher Elser, a junior in the Krieger School of Arts and Sciences, died this evening.

Chris succumbed to the wounds he suffered early Saturday when he was stabbed by an intruder in the St. Paul Street house occupied by members of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity.

I have conveyed to Chris's parents and family our sorrow at their loss and the deepest sympathy of the entire Johns Hopkins community. I know that you join me in extending the same sentiments to Chris's many friends on campus.

We will have an opportunity to stand together with Chris's family and friends, support them and share their grief. I invite you to a memorial service to be held outdoors at the Homewood campus on Tuesday morning shortly after10 a.m.

Nothing we say then, and nothing I can say now, will make it easy to accept and understand this tragedy. It is, by its very nature, unacceptable. It is beyond understanding. I cannot comprehend -- nor, I am sure, can you -- what would lead one human being to take the life of another.

To the extent possible, then, let us focus on what we can understand: That Chris's life, though cut tragically short, was a blessing to his family, to his friends and to all of us at Johns Hopkins.

That all of us -- whether we knew him well, only in passing, or not at all -- are the better for having had this kind, generous and likeable young man as a part of our community.

That we will miss him, we will remember him and we will endeavor to live well and do good in his honor.

The exact location of Tuesday's memorial service will be announced on the university's home page at http://www.jhu.edu Classes at the Homewood campus will be canceled that day from 10 a.m. until noon.

Sincerely,

Bill Brody

seriously sucks...

 

[br0wn]

This is sad. A fellow JHU student here also.

 

[MrDingleDangle]

Hopkins alum, 2001



very sad...heard about it today

....i was a brother at Phi Psi and we had our house broken into many times. When I was alone during winter breaks at times I would always keep a weapon (usually a huge plubers wrench)...I thought at tthe time i was being a wuss, now im glad i did.

 

[MrDudeMan]

wow...that really sucks

 

[cerebusPu]

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/crime/bal-md.stabbing18apr18,0,1460451.story?coll=bal-local-headlines


link with more information. he traded rooms with some frat boy who wanted to study. it should have been the other guy to die that night.

 

[dquan97]

Originally posted by: Xiety

 

[WhiteKnight]

^
For the fellow Hopkins alumni I know are on here.

 

[MrDingleDangle]

Whats this i hear about another hopkins student got stabbed by someone who works at RoFo? just heard rumors about this, didnt know if it was true

 

[cerebusPu]

oh gosh...i use to live right above RoFo many years ago. i want to know the details about this rumor. Usually Rofo gets robbed like 3 times a semester.

JHU security webpage doesnt have anything on Eisner or a Rofo stabbing.
http://www.jhu.edu/~security/

 

[placebo139]

very sad indeed...

 

[MrDingleDangle]

its weird how things that happen like this never make national news for some reason, its like baltimore or a black hole and nothing escapes it, except unfortunatly the ravens

 

[cerebusPu]

I saw it on the news in DC. so it managed to get that far!

 

[MazerRackham]

What's 'RoFo'? Sad story indeed...

 

[WhiteKnight]

RoFo is Royal Farms, a convenience store close to campus. There was indeed a stabbing there earlier this semester. A drunk Towson student was with some of his Hopkins friends and he got into a verbal altercation with a RoFo employee over a chicken sandwich that was taking a rather long time to be made. The shouting escalated and the two ended up on the sidewalk outside fighting. The RoFo worker stabbed the Towson student and ran away. They found the guy without to much problem later, and the student recovered, but it't still completely ridiculous.

 

[MrDingleDangle]

haha found out the RoFo was a friend of mine

well i think friend x and another kid got into a fight with the chicken lady and friendy was waiting outside and she followed them out and then he was like, you wanna fight you wanna fight or something and then she stabbed friendy in the leg!

i heard this happeened 2 weeks in a row...other time wasnt my friends