Tucson police were scouring drainage ditches and desert walking paths Wednesday after a woman reported that she was sexually assaulted at gunpoint.
Shortly after noon, police received a 911 report from the victim and responded to South Tucson Boulevard and East Commerce Center Place, which is on the southeast-side corner of a new Walmart Neighborhood Market.Β
The woman, who was pushing an infant in a stroller, told police that she was walking home when a man came up behind her with a handgun, said Sgt. Pete Dugan, a Tucson Police Department spokesman.
The man forced her into a nearby walking path where she was sexually assaulted, and then the man ran away, Dugan said. The woman was taken to a hospital.
The infant was not hurt, said Dugan.
The assailant was described as a thin build man in his late teens or early 20s. He possibly had a mustache, said Dugan. Police did not release what he was wearing.
Investigators were combing tunnels and walking paths in search of the assailant in the desert area near subdivisions. The search continued into the night near South Tucson Boulevard, south of East Drexel Road.Β
Multiple officers were seen searching a drainage channel under Tucson Boulevard.
The incident forced the lockdown of Los Amigos Elementary School at 2200 E. Drexel Road earlier in the day.
Sunnyside Unified School District officials said they conducted a controlled release of students with the coordination of Tucson police. The incident did not involve the school.
Anyone with information can call 911 or 88-CRIME.
