A quiet late-night study session turned into a heated confrontation that included racial slurs and the discovery of weapons, according to two of the students involved.

A police report was filed, but University Police have not charged anyone as of Tuesday afternoon. Police have launched an investigation, however, according to Assistant Chief Rick Amweg, who called the incident “ethnic intimidation.”

“We have uncharged suspects,” Amweg said. “We’re still interviewing people.”

At about 2:30 a.m. on Sunday night, a group of female students, including Lantern campus editor Amelia Scruggs who had no editorial involvement in this story, were studying on the ninth floor of Drackett Tower Sunday night when they were disturbed by loud guitar music coming from the room next to them. The girls asked the male neighbors to observe quiet hours.

At that point, they “got a nasty attitude about the situation,” said Sade Sparks, a freshman in interior design. “They played louder after we asked them to be quiet.”

The situation became uglier as it “became a back and forth thing,” Sparks said.

As more words were exchanged, “b—h” was used by an unidentified male. One of the girls, Beverly Pope, a freshman, ended up striking one of the unidentified males after she was provoked, according to Sparks.

“He was trying to get her to hit him, telling her, ‘I want you to hit me so I can call the police and have them arrest you,'” Sparks said.

The racial tension climaxed when one of the males used the “N” word at the girls, she said.

The males were removed from the building after it was discovered that at least several of them were not residents of Drackett.

According to Sparks, at about 4:45 a.m., 15 to 20 Post-It notes were discovered on the girl’s door. The messages read: “Nazis,” “Cotton gin n—–s,” “N—–s are farm equipment,” “Mexicans are better than (blacks),” and “You all are monkeys.”

The girls took pictures of the door with their cell phones and reported it immediately to their resident adviser.

“They were supposed to leave us alone, but they didn’t. They were escorted out of the building, but they obviously came back in or someone else did it,” Sparks said.

The police were called, but no arrests were made.

“I became more upset and agitated because nothing could be done. I’ve never been in that kind of altercation before. I just couldn’t believe it was happening to me,” said Chandrea Harris, a freshman in biology.

According to Sparks and Harris, police discovered weapons in the room of the male suspects after the involved parties had left the building.

“We can’t go back (to Drackett Hall) until the hearing,” Harris said.

Amweg said police are working with the resident hall staff and the student judicial affairs staff with the ongoing investigation.

Chris Alexis can be reached at [email protected].