CraigsList Killer raises fears on Boston University campus

photo by: David L. Ryan/ Globe Staff/ File

Headlines such as “Cops: B.U. med student the Craigslist killer” splashed across the Boston Herald Tuesday morning and roused a range of reactions on the Boston University campus. 

    Michelle Prevost, a sophomore in the College of Arts and Sciences, desc

ribed her first reaction to the news: “I was absolutely shocked and disgusted this happened in right here in Boston.”

            Prevost is also an employee on the medical campus and said part of her anxiety comes from “imagining all his [Philip Markoff’s] friends are there [medical campus] and they’re about to do the same thing to me right now.” The medical campus is approximately 23 minutes away on the free shuttle provided by B.U. according to the B.U. BUS website. 

            Meanwhile, other students remained calmer. Samantha Dickson, a junior in the School of Management said, “unfortunately it will reflect badly on BU, but it’s an isolated incident that could’ve happened anywhere.”

            Leigh Warrington, a senior in the College of Communications, said she was most struck by how normal Philip Markoff appeared. She said, “I was surprised that there was someone like that roaming around campus among us. I was thoroughly disturbed after hearing he was charged with murder.”

            The news of Philip Markoff’s charge as the Craigslist killer also reached the families of BU students. “I’ve had family and friends contact me about this all day,” said Prevost.

            There were varying reactions to the news across the campus, but the Globe reported that

the university has responded by suspending Markoff.

To view a map of the campus: http://www.bu.edu/maps/