MIT student stabbed outside Central Square
By Annabelle Boyd
David G. O'Dowd G was stabbed at approximately 10:45 pm last Thursday night in Central Square near the intersection of Broadway and Prospect Street.
Returning from a conference in New York City, O'Dowd had climbed out of the Central Square subway stop and was walking along Prospect Street when he encountered "two black men, both in their early twenties."
O'Dowd described one of the men as about 6'3" tall, and the other as between 5'8" and 5'10". The two men were walking down Prospect Street behind O'Dowd. When they maneuvered to pass O'Dowd on the sidewalk, the tall man moved in front of him, and the short man filed behind him. At this point, O'Dowd felt no apprehension about the situation.
However, when the shorter man passed O'Dowd, he reached out and stabbed him in the stomach with a knife. The attack was so unexpected, it took O'Dowd a few moments to realize that he had been stabbed.
"It was weird because after the guy stabbed me, they both kept right on walking, like nothing had happened. They didn't laugh or yell or run or anything," O'Dowd said.
Neither of the men attempted to rob O'Dowd or threatened him in anyway after the knifing. O'Dowd suspected that he may have become their target because he was still dressed "nicely" from his New York conference.
O'Dowd also suggested that the pair was "probably on some pretty serious drugs at the time."
Shortly after the stabbing, a car pulled up to O'Dowd and the driver, who had apparently witnessed the stabbing, asked him if he had been cut. O'Dowd nodded, and the driver pulled back on the road, to notify the police, leaving O'Dowd on the sidewalk.
O'Dowd managed to flag down another car. The driver took him to Cambridge City Hospital, where he was treated for the wound which cut across his stomach and over an inch into his colon.
O'Dowd filed a police report with the Cambridge Police Department and looked at some mug shots, but so far no positive identification of his assailants has emerged.
O'Dowd, who was released from the MIT Medical Center yesterday, said he was "healing fast.".
"While Central Square is not known to be that safe a place, I'd never really heard too much about Prospect Street being dangerous," O'Dowd said. "I hope other people will be more careful in that area as a result of what happened to me," he said.
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