On Monday, Nov. 8 a Westwood student was mugged by an unknown stranger on their way to school. After the student exited their vehicle in near proximity to a church, the stranger came out from the bushes in a black hoodie and appeared to have some sort of weapon. The student reported later that the stranger took the wallet with all of its contents.

“The student safely retreated from the situation and later reported the incident to a parent who contacted the authorities,” Principal Dr. Mario Acosta said in a letter to the students the next day on Tuesday, Nov. 9.

This will likely come as a stunning event, and one that most people would assume would never happen to them in such a safe school environment. Nevertheless, the crime is a reminder for students to stay as safe as possible at all times when walking or biking to school each day. 

In Dr. Acosta’s aforementioned letter to the school, he spoke on further safety measures that will be implemented to hopefully prevent something like this from ever happening again. 

“The Round Rock ISD Police Department has increased patrols around our campus neighborhood and in areas where students frequently walk,” Dr. Acosta said. 

Dr. Acosta also recommended that students always walk or bike to school with other students, stay alert to what is happening around them, and if a stranger comes up to them in an effort to make them uncomfortable, to run away and tell a trusted adult. 

Austin Zellers ‘23 is a student who often walks to and from school. Zellers was asked how the recent incident affected him and whether he thinks there should be any measures taken to increase security or help students feel safer.

“It hasn’t affected me very much but I imagine it has had a big effect on a lot of other people. I would like to see them do something but I’m not sure what they can do,” Zellers said.

Another student who has chosen to remain anonymous commented on what safety precautions they would be taking when walking to school.

“I would take a different route or I would try to change my mode of transportation so I don’t have to walk. Unfortunately, some people don’t have access to that transportation which would make it difficult to stay safe. I would probably carry around pepper spray as well if I were walking to school.”

This is a complicated situation to handle, especially because the incident did not occur on student property, but as more safety measures are being implemented and security around the school is tightened, students will hopefully soon feel safe walking or biking to and from school again.