Rumours are circling that Brock University students were involved in a home invasion in St. Catharines.

Police were called to investigate a home disturbance around 11:45 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 18, according to Nilan Davé, public affairs officer for the Niagara Regional Police Service.

The situation escalated from a verbal confrontation between a group of people having a snowball fight and a local homeowner who had asked them to stop making noise.

Davé confirmed the small group forced their way into the home and assaulted the homeowner.

It has not been established whether students were involved.

“People are assuming [it was students] because it [was] young people in an incident that took place where there is a lot of student renting,” Davé explained.

Brock University has been asked to help in the investigation. The University could not be reached for comment.

When asked about the Code of Student Conduct at Western, John Doerksen, vice-provost academic programs and students, stated it does extend to student behaviour off-campus.

However, he said the code would apply if such an incident were to occur during an organized Western event.

Elgin Austen, director of Western’s Campus Community Police Service, also commented on the issue, and confirmed if it occurred in London, the entire situation would have to be evaluated before they decided if the code would apply.

“It would depend on the intensity of the investigation, who was involved, and who did what,” Austen said. “If individuals involved pose a threat to anyone in the campus community, the situation would be clear and the code would be applied.”

Doerksen mentioned if the code were to be used, the proceedings would be private and confidential, unless a victim was involved:  “We would want to make sure we have a safety plan in place for the victim on and off campus if [the incident] involved students.”

While Austen confirmed there have been no previous incidents of this kind at Western, he stated campus police works closely with London Police Service and would assist in an investigation if such an incident were to occur.

“The first thing would be to investigate to determine who was involved,” Austen stated. “If it is determined that it was students then we would be assisting city police because it is an offsite investigation.”

Austen said students in the Western community continue to build its relationship with the community, and it is only in rare occasions where this does not occur.