A group of males threatened several Iona students around 4 a.m. on Oct. 4 on the corner of North and Mayflower avenues. Earlier that morning around 1:45 a.m., three other female students were harassed by a similar group of men outside of their house on Fifth Avenue.

The entire student body received a message through the school’s text messaging system regarding the incident on North Avenue, but it did not include further details about the group of men involved. The administration was not aware of the Fifth Avenue incident at that time.

After that night, rumors began to circulate amongst students that more incidents were occurring and that they held some correlation to gang violence.

An email was distributed to the student body on Oct. 8 with more information from Vice Provost for Student Life Charles Carlson.

“I have been made aware of several rumors that have surfaced recently about activity in the vicinity of the College during late night and early morning hours,” said Carlson in the email. “The intent of this email is to dispel misinformation the only reported incident that has been verified was referenced in a text message sent out … on Saturday, Oct. 4.”

At the Oct. 9 Student Government Association meeting, Carlson told students that the two Oct. 4 incidents involved the same group of people.

In an interview, Carlson said he spoke with Capt. Robert Gazzola, of the New Rochelle Police Department, who said they “identified everyone that was involved in the incident.”

“There was no gang relation whatsoever,” Carlson said.

According to the police report and initial interview taken from the students after the North Avenue incident, “Complainant states a male Hispanic wearing a red baseball cap and gray sweatshirt bumped into him trying to start a fight. Complainant states that the male…even made a gesture as to reach for a gun in his right hip. Complainant states he never saw a gun, but the moment [he] made a gesture [the student] ran away.”

The Fifth Avenue incident involved three female students that live in an off-campus house.

One of the students, who would like to remain anonymous for safety reasons, stated that they “heard an oddly loud whistle coming from outside.”

They looked out the window to see a man standing on their front lawn whistling up to their house. He was joined by two other men, which prompted the girls called the cops immediately.

“The scariest part was that we couldn’t even tell if they were in our house already, since we know our house is very east to break into and the last time we got a glimpse of them they were very close to our entrance,” one of the students said.

They too had heard the rumors regarding gang activity being related to the incident and said that it “just makes us even more nervous about our safety.”

Along with many other students, they had heard that it was gang initiation month in New Rochelle.

In an interview, Carlson stated that he asked Gazzola and the NRPD if there is heightened risk in gang activity in the area during the month of October and was told no.

“There is no such thing as October being gang initiation month at all,” Carlson said.

After the weekend the incident was reported, Director of Campus Safety And Security Dominic Locatelli said security increased its presence in the area with more rounds and added an extra person to the staff.

Throughout the week, with every rumor that came their way, Locatelli and Carlson expressed that they called the NRPD to confirm or deny the alleged incidents.

The only events that were reported were the two in the early morning of Oct. 4, and since then it has been determined that there was no relation to gang activity in either of the two incidents.

“I think it’s made everyone here very nervous for the week,” Carlson said. “Students have heard numerous rumors that weren’t based in fact. The only positive thing I can think of that came out of this is the fact that students are a little more aware of situations and hopefully will be more cautious.”