The University of South Dakota and the Vermilion Police Department are investigating two reports of sexual assault that happened on Sunday, one on campus and one off-campus.

USD's campus newspaper The Volante reports the the victims are USD students and that the assaults happened hours apart; adding that the police believe the victims knew the people who assaulted them. The three persons of interests have been contacted by Vermilion police.

“Our first priority is the safety of our students and people in our campus community,” said USD President James W. Abbott in a press release. “We don’t want to panic people, but at the same time we have a responsibility to make people aware of a possible safety concern.”

USD issued an alert to all students, faculty and staff Wednesday evening and sent out photos of the three persons of interest. Police collected the photos during the investigation.

The Vermilion PD adds that based on the information received so far in the investigation, there is no reason to believe there is a continuing threat to the community. No arrests have been made, and the investigation is ongoing.

(VIA)

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