Lewis & Clark College student Tanguy Muvuna on Tuesday stood by his account of being attacked by three white men on campus in response to rumors that his report was a hoax after police announced they were suspending their investigation.

"Everyone can think what he wants," he said in a text message. "That is not going to change what happened to me.''

Tuesday morning, Portland police said that they had run down all their leads and couldn't proceed with an investigation without Muvuna's participation. By the afternoon, police and The Oregonian/OregonLive both received an anonymous email alleging that Muvuna had "fabricated the attack" and admitted it to others.

Police are now reviewing the email.

"None of those things have been verified in that email," police spokesman Sgt. Pete Simpson said. "The investigators are going to review that to determine the next course of action, if there is one."

The anonymous writer wouldn't respond to any questions.

Muvuna said he was saddened by the email. Some people have been pushing him to identify his attackers, he said in a text, but he won't change his mind about not seeking a prosecution.

"Because I forgive them, and I believe that peace comes through forgiveness," he wrote.

David Ellis, Lewis & Clark College's vice president and general counsel, posted a statement on the school's website, urging the college community to respect Muvuna's "right not to participate in any investigation by the Portland Police Bureau or our own campus safety that would help us identify his attackers."

Detectives last met with Muvuna on Nov. 24, three days after the alleged assault and the same day that Muvuna spoke publicly on the college campus, saying he forgave his attackers. If they're students, he said he wanted them to finish their studies and make their families and country proud.

Muvuna told police investigators then that he didn't want to participate in the investigation further and didn't want to prosecute his assailants should they be identified.

Detectives met with college administrators on Nov. 30 to update them on the investigation. School officials, with a college counselor, decided to talk directly to Muvuna to see if he might feel more willing working through them and campus security to help investigators, Simpson sai.

But he didn't change his mind at a Dec. 7 meeting with school officials, Simpson said.

It's not unusual for a victim to decline to move forward with prosecution, Simpson said. "I don't think we want to characterize his unwillingness as an indicator that it didn't happen," he said.

He characterized Muvuna as "never enthusiastic about the investigation but did provide information about the attack from the beginning."

"With all the leads having been run down, there's really no place to go with the investigation without a cooperating victim,'' Simpson said. Detectives also interviewed several other people as part of the investigation, he said.

Muvuna reported the attack after racially derogatory posts surfaced on the social media site Yik Yak. Police said they don't know if the posts "had any direct connection'' to the incident.

Detectives also investigated the Yik Yak posts, but identified no suspects, police said in a statement. Nothing in the posts represented an immediate threat to students or staff at the college, police said.

Investigators consulted with the Multnomah County District Attorney's office, Simpson said, and found "there's no legal basis to subpoena those records because there's no articulable crime. Ultimately, we were not able to get any records from Yik Yak."

Muvuna, a 26-year-old from Rwanda who received a 2015-16 scholarship to attend Lewis & Clark's English Studies program, described the Nov. 21 attack in an interview with The Oregonian/OregonLive.

He said he had been walking near the outdoor swimming pool on campus about 12:20 a.m. when three white men approached, asked him "what's up'' and used the N-word. He said they continued to make derogatory racial remarks as one held him from behind. One slapped, punched and kicked him and the three forced him to drink an unknown liquid, he said. Muvuna said he was able to run back to his dorm and alerted a friend, who notified campus security.

A day after he made the report, Muvuna said he was disturbed that the official police release suggested he had waited three hours before reporting the attack. Police later acknowledged they had make a mistake, saying it was due to a misunderstanding, and Muvuna didn't delay his report.

Police said if they receive any new information in the case, they'll pursue it. They asked anyone with additional information about the case to contact Detective Todd Prosser at 503-823-9320, or todd.prosser@portlandoregon.gov.

-- Maxine Bernstein

mbernstein@oregonian.com

503-221-8212

@maxoregonian