Residents of tony Westchester County, just north of New York City, are on edge after a masked gunman reportedly attacked two women in separate incidents this week.
According to a CBS New York report, the suspect appears to have been intent on raping at least one of the women he attacked, but both of his intended victims escaped without bodily harm — though both were shaken up.
Westchester Residents On Edge After 2 Women Attacked By Masked Gunman https://t.co/m8ICRimWZI
— CBS New York (@CBSNewYork) January 16, 2017
The attacks occurred less than half an hour apart in Yonkers and nearby Scarsdale. The first victim was accosted by the gunman after she walked home from the Metro-North train station at around 7:30 Thursday evening. The suspect grabbed her in her own driveway, and reportedly tried to take her wedding ring. The woman screamed to her husband inside their house, and the gunman ran off.
The second victim, a 19-year-old woman, was sitting in her car when the masked man got in, attempting to rob and sexually assault her. She ran to safety, unharmed — but the neighbors in the wealthy suburb are anxious that no suspects have been apprehended.
Westchester Police told CBS New York that they are sweeping both scenes for DNA, to determine if the attacked in both instances is the same person.
Violent crime is indeed a rare occurrence in these upscale commuter towns.
“Very surprising, this is usually a really, really safe neighborhood,” one resident told CBS New York. “I would never have thought twice about walking late at night around here.”
