Students reported hearing screams and seeing a woman covered with blood on the fifth floor of the Rutgers Business School building in Piscataway. Watch video
PISCATAWAY -- A Rutgers University student and faculty member were hospitalized Friday after a former student stabbed them in an office at the Rutgers Business School during afternoon classes, according to authorities.
Both victims were able to flee from the attacker and are being treated at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital, Rutgers Police Chief Kenneth Cop said.
The former student was taken into custody and is being treated for self-inflicted wounds, Cop said. Police are still investigating, and criminal charges have not been filed.
Rutgers officials called the stabbing an isolated incident and said there is no danger to the community. The university had no update on the condition of the victims as of 6:30 p.m.
"Our thoughts and prayers are with the victims and their families," university Executive Vice President Antonio M. Calcado said in a message sent to students.
The stabbing began around 2:30 p.m. at the business school on Rockafeller Road on Rutgers' Livingston Campus, according to Rutgers Police and Middlesex County Prosecutor Andrew C. Carey.
The former student entered a university office and, unprovoked, began attacking the student and faculty member, according to authorities.
Students told NJ Advance Media they heard screams and saw a woman covered with blood on the fifth floor of the business school.
"I saw a lot of blood and a girl sitting down," said Nathan Gabriel, a sophomore.
Sophomore Stephen Mourad was studying for a midterm on the fifth floor when he heard a woman screaming, he said.
"It sounded like she was in pain," Mourad said.
Rutgers put the business school on lockdown and sent an alert to students warning them to avoid the area. Some students said their classes continued in the six-story, glass-and-steel building during the lockdown.
Police stood outside the doors and blocked nearby roads until the alert was lifted.
As students left the building, police asked them for their student IDs and wrote down their names, students said. By 4:45 p.m., most students had left the area, though police were still on the scene and nearby roads remained closed.
The Daily Targum, the campus newspaper, also reported students heard screams in the business school building after 2:30 p.m. and professors went to investigate.
"I just heard the screams. Some faculty members went to the room and wanted to figure out what happened. Then another guy called the police and said, 'Somebody is stabbing. There's blood everywhere,'" Suiyi Jiang, a Rutgers Business School junior, told the student newspaper.
University officials also shut down the nearby Livingston Student Center during the lockdown and rerouted buses away from the area, the Targum reported.
Counseling will be available on campus, Calcado said.
RU ALERT: Suspect in custody. Area is safe. Police investigation ongoing. 11/04/2016 15:29:35 EDT
-- Rutgers University (@RutgersU) November 4, 2016
RU ALERT: Stabbing at Rutgers Business School (New Brunswick). Avoid the area and/or take shelter. 11/04/2016 14:45:32 EDT
-- Rutgers University (@RutgersU) November 4, 2016
Staff writers Kelly Heyboer and Jessica Remo contributed to this report.
Spencer Kent may be reached at skent@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @SpencerMKent. Find the Find NJ.com on Facebook.