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Woman robbed at knifepoint on edge of Longwood Medical Area; local institutions alert students and staff

A Longwood Medical Area already jolted by the gun incident outside Brigham and Women's Hospital on Friday was put on alert again this morning after a woman was robbed at knifepoint and her assailant fled down Brookline Avenue.

Stanley Staco reports a woman was robbed before 10:30 a.m. the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health sent out an alert:

Police are searching for an individual with a knife on Brookline Ave. headed toward Longwood Ave. Avoid the area.

Other institutions in the area sent similar messages. Not long after, the alerts were canceled, but around 11:30, the public-health school sent out a new alert:

Suspect from previous alerts has been reported in vicinity of 360 Longwood Ave., light-skinned gentleman with dread locks and blue jacket.

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Suspect from previous alerts has been reported in vicinity of 360 Longwood Ave., light-skinned gentleman with dread locks and blue jacket.

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"...gentleman with dread locks and blue jacket."

Call me old-fashioned, but robbing someone at knifepoint doesn't sound quite "gentlemanly" to me.

Perhaps "ruffian" or "perp" is more fitting.

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Correct.

"Gentleman" is not a synonym for "man". It means a specific thing, and individuals accused of violent crimes don't fit the bill.

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How come so many of these alerts, where someone (the victim at least) has seen the perp, don't include any physical description at all?

This one is better than many -- but even here, "light skinned with dreads" -- are we supposed to infer his race from that? I've seen white guys with dreads. Wouldn't a racial clue help ID him? Well, maybe his race was unclear -- or even be misleading -- I remember many years ago, the "Son of Sam" serial killer in NY looked Latino in the (awful) artist's drawing based on bystander descriptions -- but turned out to be a white guy.

But how about height, weight, etc? "He was over six feet tall and heavy." "He was about 5'8" or so, medium build."

Why are these descriptions so often vague or even nonexistent? Is it because the victim was too upset to focus on the perp's appearance, and there were no bystanders or security cameras? That would be a legitimate reason. Or is it something else?

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MASCO has reported that the suspect was an overly aggressive panhandler asking for money. Please be aware of your surroundings. All clear.

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Overly aggressive panhandler armed with a weapon...

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Someone coming at somebody with a knife is an "aggressive panhandler"? Huh?

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I'm not sure if it was a "gun incident" last week so much as the police killing a mentally ill man who was seeking psychiatric treatment at the Brigham, and accidentally shooting a valet in the process. I hope I'm wrong about this, but what little information has been released is pointing in that direction.

This incident looks like it might have been an over-reaction too.

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You’re defending the perpetrator?

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