Arrest warrant issued for Creighton's Maurice Watson Jr.

Omaha police have issued an arrest warrant for Creighton basketball player Maurice Watson Jr.

WOWT 6 News has confirmed a 1st degree sexual assault warrant was issued for Watson Jr. following an investigation. According to reports, police were called to a local hospital around 10:30 in the morning on February 4th, 2017. A woman there reported that she had been sexually assaulted earlier that morning, saying that a suspect allegedly had non-consensual sex with her in the bathroom of a home.

Omaha Police confirm that the man suspected in the assault is Watson Jr.

On Wednesday, Creighton University announced that Watson Jr. had been

suspended from university athletics functions

, but the only reasons given were that he had allegedly engaged in "actions that are contrary to University policies and core values."

Watson Jr., a senior at Creighton, is no longer playing for the Bluejays

after tearing his ACL back in January

. The university also barred him from taking part in Senior Day events at the final home game of the season on Tuesday, February 28th. He is still enrolled as a student at Creighton despite his athletic suspension.

A spokesperson for Creighton said the university could not comment on an outside investigation but late Thursday night the university issued the following statement:

"Creighton University continues to cooperate with local officials in the investigation, and the announcement on Thursday, Feb. 24, does not change the status of Creighton’s ongoing investigation into the matter. There is no tolerance for sexual misconduct at Creighton, and all allegations will be investigated fairly and with dignity. As the process continues, we are extending care and concern for all involved."

The Omaha Metro Fugitive Task Force is attempting to locate Watson and arrest him on the arrest warrant. Anyone with information on the location of Watson or information about this incident is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 402-444-STOP.

An option for victims in these cases is

Creighton's Violence Intervention and Prevention Program.

. Organizers there told WOWT 6 News they deal with about 20 survivors of assault a week. Of those 20, about five to six are visiting for the first time. When WOWT 6 News talked to them a couple weeks ago, they said already this year the program has seen almost as many people as they did in all of 2016.

"When we see our numbers going up here for services and help, we're really happy about that because we want them to be connected to support and not feel alone,” said Lauren Ward. "We know that this happens on college campuses and any college that says it doesn't is outright lying. There's no community immune from these issues unfortunately."