A Northwestern alumnus in Boynton Beach, Fla. called University Police Tuesday and said people were trying to kill him, an official said.

Police initially traced the call to the lobby of Norris University Center, 1999 Campus Drive, but the caller was not there, UP Deputy Chief Daniel McAleer said. They called Boynton Beach police, who said they had received the same report and made physical contact with the alumnus, McAleer said.

UP has dealt with the alumnus before, McAleer said.

An NU student admitted to smoking marijuana Tuesday, police said.

A community assistant in Shepard Residential College, 626 University Place, called police and said she smelled marijuana, McAleer said. Police traced the smell to a third floor room. The resident admitted using the drug and said he only had stems in his possession now, McAleer said.

The student flushed the stems down the toilet and was referred to Student Affairs, McAleer said.

Someone stole a laptop, CDs and books Tuesday from a car in the parking lot of Best Buy, 2301 Howard St., an Evanston Police Department official said.

The owner said he parked his car at 4:30 p.m. and returned at 5:15 p.m. to find the rear passenger window broken, Cmdr. Tom Guenther said. A black canvas bag containing a silver 13-inch Dell laptop, CDs and photo books was missing, he said.

Police are not pursuing the case, Guenther said.

Someone spray painted a 14-by-10-foot design on a building on the 600 block of Dempster Street on Tuesday, police said.

The design featured silver, white, black and yellow paint and spelled an illegible word, Guenther said. Police do not think it was gang-related, he said.

-Rebecca Cohen