No arrests in Cornell stabbing, victim ID'd

After a student event Saturday night at Willard Straight Hall on the Cornell campus, several fights broke out in the early morning hours and ended with one Ithaca College student dead and another airlifted to Upstate Medical Center.

Anthony Nazaire, 19, of Brooklyn, a sophomore at Ithaca College, was pronounced dead early Sunday morning at Cayuga Medical Center. The name of the student taken to Upstate has not been released, but Ithaca College confirmed in a letter from president Tom Rochon that both men were students at the college.

"I hope you will hold these students — along with their families, friends, classmates, and professors — in your thoughts and prayers at this difficult and tragic time," Rochon stated in the letter.

According to Ithaca Police Department, several hundred students attended the event, and several fights broke out afterward. Shortly before 2 a.m. Sunday, Cornell University and Ithaca police responded to a report of a large fight at College Avenue and Campus Road. The two men were found with stab wounds, according to Ithaca Police. No suspects have been named and no arrests have yet been made.

According to surveillance pulled from cameras on the plaza, several people had recorded the incident on their cellphones and several motorists can also be seen driving past on College Avenue.

Investigators are asking any pedestrians or motorists who were in the area early Sunday morning to contact police or forward cell phone footage to either the department or IPD officer Jamie Williamson by email at jwilliamson@cityofithaca.org. People can remain anonymous if they choose to do so, police said.

To contact the police with information on the investigation, call the Crime Stoppers tipline at 607-697-0333 or fill out the email tip form at http://www.cityofithaca.org/FormCenter/Ithaca-Police-Department-5/Ithaca-Police-Department-Tipline-47 .

Follow Simon Wheeler on Twitter @ijphotos and Nick Reynolds @IJCityWatch