Police: 2 New York college students abducted, held hostage

Dec 7, 2015 - 11:06 PM ROCHESTER, N.Y. (AP) Two New York college students, one a current member of the football team and the other a former member, were rescued by a SWAT team a day after being abducted and held hostage, police said.

Police on Monday provided no possible motive for the incident, which ended Sunday night when the SWAT team entered a home about four miles from the University of Rochester where the two seniors from the Chicago area were being held. Four people were taken into custody.

Both students were taken to the hospital, where one was recovering from a gunshot wound. Police said the student was shot in the leg before they began their rescue operation. His injury is not life-threatening.

Nicholas Kollias, of Northbrook, Illinois, and Ani Okeke Ewo, of Aurora, Illinois, were reported missing Saturday evening, hours after they were last seen near the school.

Police said they were targeted by their assailants and there was no larger threat. They did not identify which student was shot or any other injuries either student may have suffered.

Rochester police Chief Mike Ciminelli told radio station WHAM-AM that investigators determined the students were at one of three places in the city.

''As the day progressed, we narrowed it down from three to two possible locations,'' Ciminelli said. ''Through some surveillance we saw some activity at one of the locations. ... Based on the information relayed to me by the operational commander, I made a decision that we have to move in immediately.''

The names of those arrested were not released Monday.

University President Joel Seligman described ''a collective sense of relief,'' adding: ''This could have turned out in a very different way.''

Ewo is a cornerback for the Yellowjackets, according to a 2015 roster posted on the university's website, while Kollias was listed as a defensive end on the 2014 roster.