“Trying not to make a sound, try not to breathe, try not to cry,” an OU student thought as she watched a man walk into her bedroom. It was around 5 a.m. and she lay in her bed, shaking with fear. She would later learn he had been completely unclothed.
When he moved to her roommate's room, she was able to call the police. It took them around 25 minutes to get to her room.
That morning, officers arrested the suspect, a naked OU student, breaking into rooms at Callaway House Apartments after a similar incident the week prior amid growing concerns about resident safety.
The first break-in occurred on Monday, Sept. 21 around 4 a.m., when a man entered an apartment at Callaway.
The man entered Student A’s room, a female OU sophomore who wished to remain anonymous to avoid public scrutiny.
Student A awoke to him crouched on the floor by her bed, digging through her underwear drawer.
“I sat up, I yelled at him, and he stood up, and we looked at each other for a couple moments, and then he ran out of my apartment,” Student A said.
According to a press release from the Norman Police Department, officers were unable to identify or locate him.
Around 5 a.m. the following Sunday — six days later — a naked man attempted to open apartment doors as he walked down the hallway. Police later identified him as Gavin Vanderven, a 19-year-old OU student who lived at Callaway.
Vanderven found an unlocked door and entered Student B’s room, a female OU sophomore who wished to remain anonymous for her safety. Afraid he had a weapon, the student pretended to sleep.
“I was just shaking in bed, horrified,” Student B said. “Trying not to make a sound, try not to breathe, try not to cry.”
Student B said Vanderven shut himself in her closet and rummaged through her dirty clothes and drawers for around 5 minutes. She said she heard him leave the apartment, then return about a minute later. He entered her roommate’s room, who was out of town, where he rummaged through her underwear drawer and belongings. That’s when, still frozen in her bed, Student B dialed 911.
Student B said police arrived at Callaway a minute or two later, but they could not get into the apartment complex. They asked her to come let them in, but she was scared Vanderven was still in her apartment. It took the police about 25 minutes to get to her.
“(It) is absolutely unacceptable on Callaway's part,” she said. “There's no reason that first responders shouldn't be able to get into the apartment for emergency purposes, ... so that's really disturbing for me.”
Capt. Lee McWhorter of NPD said Callaway has a key box with a code for first responders, but there wasn’t a key in it that morning. McWhorter said he did not know why the key was missing and couldn’t confirm how long it took first responders to enter. A spokesperson for Callaway did not respond to a question about why the key wasn’t in the box.
After receiving a call Vanderven had entered a second apartment, the police found and arrested him at his apartment. Vanderven was charged with two counts of burglary.
NPD has not confirmed Vanderven also committed the first break-in. The investigation is ongoing.
Student A said police told her Vanderven confessed to both Monday and Sunday’s break-ins.
She also said Vanderven resembles the sketch she began to work on with the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation last week, and is confident it was him in her room.
“The fact that it happened again, and it was like slightly worse because he was naked … it was definitely terrifying,” Student A said. “I was kind of shocked. I don't know, just that he progressed and he progressed so quickly.”
Vanderven was held in the county jail until he posted bail on Monday. The Oklahoma Supreme Court Network shows American Campus Communities, which owns Callaway, filed a claim to evict Vanderven on Monday. At the time of publication, Vanderven did not have an attorney listed in the case.
“The individual involved no longer has access to the community, and we are committed to supporting our students with additional steps to strengthen safety and security,” a Callaway spokesperson wrote to OU Daily.
Student B felt unsafe at Callaway and returned to her hometown for a few days. Student A, as well as two of Student B’s roommates, said they obtained emergency protective orders against Vanderven, and Student B said she plans to as well.
Cameras
Jillian Munger, an OU student and Callaway resident, installed a Ring doorbell camera after the first break-in. The complex only has cameras in its elevators, Munger said, not its hallways. The Daily reached out to Callaway, but staff said camera placement is internal information.
Callaway’s lease states residents are not allowed to install doorbell cameras without permission. Munger said she and her roommates were worried about intruders, so they did not ask.
The morning of the second break-in, Munger’s camera notified her there was a person outside her door.
“I was like, ‘Is that a naked man outside of my apartment?’” Munger said.
The camera captured Vanderven as he entered an unlocked apartment after attempting to open other locked doors. Munger and her roommates also called 911 and later sent police the Ring camera footage, which she said aided in the investigation.
“(The police) were pretty sure he was under the influence of some kind of substances when they took him into custody,” Munger said. “They told us, like, ‘we don't really think he's all mentally right, right now.’”
After the break-in she experienced, Student A went to Callaway’s office and told staff she intended to install a camera. Callaway told her she was not allowed to, according to the lease she signed.
“You would think that, like, after it happened to me, they would accept my request,” Student A said. “But they did not.”
Student A said she knows of three Callaway apartments where residents installed door cameras without permission. Munger said Callaway staff have not asked her to take down her camera, and she doesn’t plan to.
On Tuesday, Callaway sent an email to residents reminding them they can request to install a camera, and those requests are reviewed on a “case-by-case basis.”
Callaway’s response
Around 9 a.m. Sunday, Callaway notified residents of the second incident in a mass email obtained by the Daily, attributing the arrest to “Public Indecency.” According to another email sent to residents Monday afternoon, Callaway is adding security throughout the complex, including in residential hallways.
“If you see suspicious activity, please call 9-1-1 immediately,” the second email read. “Looking out for one another is an important part of keeping our community safer.”
Student B said Callaway’s email minimized what happened to her by calling it public indecency. Vanderven was charged with burglary, not public indecency.
“The complete lack of ownership, and I mean, all of it, it's truly disgusting,” Student B said. “For them to try to sweep this under the rug — there is no excuse.”
Student A said she appreciated Callaway evicting Vanderven, but the security team does not make her feel any safer. She said has not seen security staff on patrol. The one time she did see them, they were on a smoke break in a car.
“Instead of putting in cameras, they hired a security that honestly could not secure anything,” Student A said. “They hired the worst possible security company, probably, in Norman.”
In an email to the Daily Tuesday, a Callaway spokesperson wrote that they are considering other security measures and working with law enforcement.
Student B said residents shouldn’t have to fear intruders, and her unlocked door was not an invitation to enter.
“This week he’s naked and going into at least two rooms, … What was next week going to be?” Student B said. “There's no excuse for this behavior.”
McWhorter offered advice to students: “Please lock your door.”
This story was edited by Audrey McClour and Spencer Windholz. This story was copy edited by Brooks Davis and Larkin Bock.
