FROSTBURG, Md. -- Following the fatal stabbing early Sunday of a Frostburg State University student on Maple Street and the quick arrest of a second student, Frostburg's police chief has issued a directive to his department after death threats were allegedly made to fire and ambulance personnel who responded to the fatal incident.
"We had two officers on duty Saturday (night shift) when the stabbing occurred. When our officers got there, there were 100 to 150 people gathered. One officer began giving CPR to the victim and the other officer tried to control the crowd before we had a full response from our medical personnel and allied agencies in law enforcement," said Frostburg Police Chief Royce Douty.
"There were verbal death threats made to the fire department and the ambulance at the scene. People were upset that they didn't get there quickly enough. I issued an order Sunday for one of our officers to routinely respond to 911 calls within the off-campus college district.
"You have to take every precaution. You can't take any chances or you might have another bad incident," said Douty.
"Nearly all of our calls are in the college district Thursdays through Saturdays when the college is in session. Saturday night we didn't have that many calls. It was generally a quiet night up to the point of the incident.
"Nearly all of our calls are college-related. You never know when something is going to break out. You try to put as many officers on our night shift as possible Thursday through Saturday but it can happen any night. We only have 14 officers and one is assigned to the C3I Unit and one as a school resources officer. Our officers walk into hundreds of people. We walk into some dangerous situations.
"The type of incidents we run into, it is amazing we don't have more deaths and serious injuries. Some incidents don't get reported until the next day when a victim has gone to the hospital and has serious injuries and is now facing numerous surgeries. Then they call their parents and we are notified.
"I've been here 34 years. We have people that get knocked out and get their teeth knocked out. I've seen people beat unconscious and the suspect is still beating on them.
"Years ago, we used to have fist fights but now things are a lot more violent. They're not trying to win a fight. They are trying to do more physical harm. It's a miracle we don't have more people dead or seriously injured.
"When these things happen, there are a whole lot of victims. There are all kinds of victims from incidents like this.
"Surely nothing was that serious between these two people that it had to come to this," said Douty. "It can't be that serious that it takes a life. It's sad. It's just terribly sad."
McClatchy-Tribune News Service
