NEW HAVEN — Police are investigating the assault of a Latino man near the Yale University campus last weekend as a possible hate crime.

The man was seriously injured Saturday morning on York Street after being assaulted by a group of young men who shouted racial slurs at the victim as they attacked him, Yale Police Chief Anthony Campbell wrote in a letter sent Tuesday to the school community.

New Haven Police Chief Karl Jacobson said during a news conference on Thursday that the assault occurred around 12:15 a.m. Saturday on the 200 block of York Street. The victim suffered a potential broken jaw and has been released from the hospital, Jacobson said.

The man said he was assaulted by two white men, part of a larger group of men and women who were at the scene, Jacobson and Assistant Police Chief Betram Etienne said.

"Besides the serious assault, there were some racial slurs, so this may be hate and bias — (a) hate crime," said Jacobson, speaking to reporters at the department headquarters on Union Avenue. "We're investigating fully."

The incident was allegedly preceded by an altercation on the street, Etienne said. The victim was reportedly walking with two friends on York Street ahead of the incident when one of them bumped into a passerby, Etienne said.

"There were words exchanged, and at that point, the assault occurred," Etienne said.

On Thursday afternoon, students walked up and down York Street, where a Yale police vehicle was stationed outside of Davenport College.

Jessai Flores, a senior and resident of Davenport, said he was not shocked by the incident, given the seeming prevalence of violence in society.

"I'm not really surprised, I guess, that this could happen," Flores said.

Flores said he was displeased with the lack of information shared about the incident. He had learned about it on social media, he said. The official letter to the community was not released until days later, on Tuesday.

At this time, there is no information pointing to the men being students at Yale, Jacobson said, although the matter remains under investigation. The victim was not a Yale student, he said, although his girlfriend attends the university.

"The victim was not a member of the Yale community, and at this early stage of the investigation, we do not have any information that would lead us to believe that the assailants were members of the Yale community," Campbell wrote in his letter Tuesday.

The former chief of the New Haven Police Department and Yale alum said his "life's mission has been to create and maintain a sense of safety and security for every single member of the Yale and New Haven communities, and to be especially sensitive toward the marginalized members of our communities for whom safety, whether perceived or experienced, has often been elusive."

The assault occurred in an area of York Street near Davenport College, one of Yale's 14 residential colleges.

Campbell said the victim was scheduled to undergo surgery following the assault. He said students came to the man's aid following the attack, saying "they deserve our deep appreciation and respect."

The New Haven Police Department has obtained surveillance footage that shows a portion of the incident, Etienne said. The incident falls under the department's jurisdicition, Jacobson said, as it happened on a public street.

A recent Yale graduate, who declined to share her name, said she had been concerned about moving through the area safely in the past, particularly in the early morning as she walked to work.

"That's terrible," she said of the alleged assault. "It's unfortunate that happened."

Jacobson advised residents to be careful when moving through the streets.

"Be aware of your surroundings. You bump into somebody — it might just be a bump, we just have to be careful," Jacobson said. "This day and age, people take things way too far, obviously."