A Barnard College student was slashed by a stranger outside a Morningside Heights dorm building, according to police and a report in the New York Post. The attacker sneaked up on the 21-year-old woman and cut her behind the ear as she walked in front of the suite-style Barnard residence hall on West 116th Street near Claremont Avenue around 8:15 p.m., police said.

The victim was taken to Mount Sinai Medical Center, where she is listed in stable condition. Barnard students received an email confirming she is a "member of the Barnard community," The Columbia Spectator reported. Student Eva Kates told the university newspaper she was walking home when she saw the victim and the heavy police response, initially assuming a robbery at a nearby Morton Williams before seeing the injured woman with blood on her neck.S2

Texts received by students at neighboring Columbia University described the suspect, who fled the scene, as a "dark skin male, 5-foot-9, stocky build wearing a black hooded coat with a yellow hat underneath and tan pants." No arrests had been made by Friday, and the motive for the assault remained unknown.S2