A man struck a female student on the head with a hammer “for no reason” at Altgeld and Sheffield, near the DePaul University campus shortly before 7 o’clock tonight.
The woman does not know her attacker.
Police searched the area for the offender, described as a clean-shaven male, black, 20 to 30 years old, 5’10” tall, wearing a gray hoodie, a hat, blue jeans, and tennis shoes.
Tonight’s victim was not robbed.
Two weeks ago, however, the Chicago Police Department issued a community alert to warn residents of a robbery pattern in which victims were threatened with or struck with a hammer. One of the incidents listed in the alert was carried out by a lone male, black in the 2800 block of N. Southport, about three-quarters of a mile from tonight’s incident.
UPDATED 10:37PM: DePaul’s Public Safety office has now sent a text alert to students’ phones.