The Office of Safety and Security alerted students and employees this week of multiple security incidents reported on campus, including students being hit by airsoft gun pellets and having racial slurs shouted at them.

On Sunday evening, multiple students reported being hit with plastic pellets from airsoft guns in separate but related incidents. Associate Vice President of Security Randy Nichols notified the Bowdoin community of these incidents in a security alert sent on Sunday night via email.

Nichols wrote that the pellets were fired from a white Hyundai Sonata, or similar sedan, with Maine lighthouse plates and tinted windows. He included a photo of this vehicle and noted that the investigation into this incident includes both Bowdoin’s Department of Safety and Security and the Brunswick Police Department (BPD). Initially, Nichols wrote that two students reported being hit with plastic pellets. Following the security alert, two more students reported being hit.

“There may be more, and we’re encouraging any students who either were shot at by people in this car with the airsoft gun or witnessed it to come forward to Security, and that would be very helpful to our investigation,” Nichols said in an interview with the Orient.

The incidents primarily occurred in the College Street and Maine Street area near Hawthorne-Longfellow Library and Park Row Apartments, although one student reported being hit near the Roux Center for the Environment. No students were injured, but Nichols stressed that airsoft guns can be very dangerous, especially if someone is hit in the face or eye.

“The term ‘airsoft’ I don’t like. It’s a misnomer, really,” Nichols said. “It would kind of indicate by the name that it’s a safe toy and a benign thing. And the fact is that these guns, whether they be a handgun or a longer gun, can project a plastic projectile or a pellet or BB at a pretty high velocity, and there are a number of documented injuries associated with airsoft guns around the country.”

Airsoft guns are illegal in some parts of the country but legal in Maine. Nichols noted that the perpetrators, if identified, could still face assault charges.

Nichols said that the vehicle spent approximately ten minutes driving throughout campus Sunday and has not returned since then. He cautions students to be aware of suspicious vehicles on campus.

“Primarily, we want people to be cautious of any vehicle that approaches them in a suspicious way, stops near them or maybe beckons them over to closer to the vehicle and to stay away and report that immediately to Security,” Nichols said.

According to BPD Chief of Police Scott Stewart, the investigation remains ongoing.

“This is an active investigation, and we are pursuing several leads. Always report any suspicious activity to Security and/or Police,” Stewart wrote in an email to the Orient.

On Tuesday, Nichols sent a security advisory to the campus community about two recent drive-by bias incidents. On September 28 and October 12, multiple students reported occupants of a silver or gray 2015 Volkswagen Jetta shouting racial slurs at them. According to Nichols, the perpetrators have been identified and banned from Bowdoin’s campus and served with criminal trespass and disorderly conduct warnings by BPD.

Nichols explained in an interview with the Orient that bias incidents often happen in bunches and that the vast majority involve slurs being shouted out of vehicles. A similar set of hate incidents occurred last semester. Nichols emphasized that Security takes these incidents very seriously and is usually successful in solving them.

“We do investigate them very hard, and we solve the vast majority of these incidents because of the technology that we have here on campus … and also the vigilance of our students and our security officers,” he said.

Nichols praised the students who identified the involved vehicle’s license plate number and reported it to Security. The vehicle’s occupants were not affiliated with the College or the Brunswick area.

“We’re very grateful to the students for having the presence of mind to get that information and get it accurately. That allowed us to solve this very quickly,” Nichols said. “Be assured that we will investigate these things and do our very best to get to the bottom of it.”

In addition to reporting to Security, bias incidents can also be reported through the online Campus and Community Index. Reports can be submitted anonymously.