Two people were today being held by police in Chicago in connection with the mugging of an Irish student who remains in a critical condition in hospital in the United States, the Department of Foreign Affairs has confirmed.
Natasha McShane (23), a postgraduate student from UCD studying at the University of Illinois and her friend, Stacy Jurich (24), were attacked while on the way back to Ms Jurich’s home on Friday.
Ms McShane sustained head injuries the assault after she and her friend were mugged and struck by a baseball bat. Both women were knocked unconscious and transferred to the intensive care unit of Advocate Illinois Masonic Hospital.
The Chicago Breaking News Centre has reported on its website that a man and his girlfriend are being questioned in relation to the incident and that a baseball bat had been recovered.
The website reported that mobile phone records and credit cards stolen from the women had allowed police to track the “persons of interest”.
Ms McShane remains in critical condition in hospital although Ms Jurich's condition has been upgraded from serious in “fair condition” according to a spokeswoman of the Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Centre.
Ms McShane, a student at UCD, had been studying since January at the University of Illinois College of urban planning and public affairs. She had just secured an internship in the US.
The completed her primary degree at Queen's University in Belfast and completed an MA in Urban and Regional Planning at UCD. In 2008 she was awarded a cross-Border scholarship, organised by Universities Ireland.