A 19-year-old Northwestern University student died Oct. 21 after being pulled from Lake Michigan near the school’s Evanston campus. Evanston police identified her as Saba Hani Alkaabi, and the Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office confirmed her death. Police said she was a Northwestern student who was not from the Evanston area.
Evanston police and fire crews responded around 7 a.m. after a 911 caller reported seeing a person in the water near 70 Arts Circle Drive, close to the Ryan Center for the Musical Arts and just north of Clark Street Beach.
Rescue Boat and Drone Search
The Evanston Fire Department’s water rescue crew reached the woman near the university’s southern lakefill area. She was unresponsive when they brought her out, and rescuers began CPR on the way in. Crews carried her on the Marine 21 rescue boat to the Church Street boat ramp, where an ambulance was standing by to take her to a local hospital. She was pronounced dead there.
Police sent a drone over the southwestern and southeastern portions of the university’s property and the nearby lakefront as part of the investigation. The death remains under investigation, but police said foul play is not suspected and the incident poses no danger to the Northwestern or Evanston communities.
University Statement and Family Request
Northwestern officials confirmed the woman was a student. “Our thoughts are with the student’s family and friends,” the university said in a statement. “The University is providing support services to impacted community members.”
Northwestern sent a campuswide email that afternoon telling students that a member of its undergraduate community had died. At the time, the university withheld her name out of respect for the family’s wishes. Evanston police and the medical examiner’s office released her identity later.
Water Safety Warnings
Evanston police used the moment to remind the public about the risks. “Lake Michigan can be dangerous,” the city’s update said, noting that hazard warnings and signs prohibiting swimming and fishing are posted along Northwestern’s lakefront. Police urged people to “follow posted warnings, check lake conditions before approaching the water and follow instructions from city or university officials to stay out of the water and off break walls and rocks.”
What Comes Next
Authorities have not released further details about what led to Alkaabi’s death, and the investigation is ongoing. Northwestern said support services remain available to students and others affected by the loss.
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