Cops raid West Virginia University frat houses in hazing probe, hauling out bags as hundreds of students look on
Two West Virginia University fraternity houses were raided amid hazing allegations, with police seen carrying multiple bags out of the residences in front of hundreds of students.Search warrants were served Monday on the Lambda Chi Alpha and Pi Kappa Alpha houses in Morgantown as part of an ongoing investigation, the West Virginia University Police Department announced on Facebook.Video posted on Instagram by the Daily Athenaeum, WVU’s student newspaper, shows officers leaving the houses with what appeared to be bags of evidence.It is unclear what the bags contained, and police have released no other details about what was taken from the residences.“West Virginia University takes seriously the safety and well-being of our students,” Police said.“Due to the nature of the investigations, no other details will be released at this time.We will provide updates as they become available.”No arrests or charges have been announced.The video also shows hundreds of onlookers crowding the sidewalks and neighboring yards as police searched the fraternity houses.Morgantown Police Chief Eric Powell said his officers were on scene to support university police, according to CBS News.The raids have rattled students in the area.“The fact that it’s just happening here, actually right there, right by our homes, is insane.
It’s crazy,” West Virginia freshman Madison McGough said Tuesday, according to the outlet.The university slapped Lambda Chi Alpha with an interim suspension on Oct.9, three days after campus police issued a warning following anonymous reports of hazing.Campus warnings are issued when a crime covered by the Clery Act, a federal law requiring colleges to disclose campus crime, is deemed to pose a “serious or continuing” threat to the campus community.The suspension followed what the university called “multiple reports,” though the nature and number of the allegations have not been released.Under the suspension, the chapter cannot hold social e...