Purdue Student Killed in Residence Hall, Suspect Identified as Victim’s Roommate
Police are investigating the homicide of a student who was killed in a residence hall at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana, and a suspect identified as the victim's roommate is in custody, school officials said on Oct. 5.
A 911 call was made to police at 12:44 a.m. on Oct. 5 by a suspect described as the victim's roommate, according to a statement by Purdue's Director of Media and Public Relations Tim Doty. The suspect is Ji Min "Jimmy" Sha, 22, a junior cybersecurity major and international student from South Korea, Purdue University Police Chief Lesley Wiete said during a news conference on Oct. 5.
NBC affiliate WTHR of Indianapolis reported that Tippecanoe County Coroner’s Office identified the victim as 20-year-old Varun Manish Chheda, a senior from Indianapolis.
No details have been released about a motive, how the victim was killed, or what Sha said on the 911 call.
“I believe this was unprovoked and senseless,” Wiete said at the news conference.
School officials said in a statement that there was no threat to the community.
"This is as tragic an event as we can imagine happening on our campus and our hearts and thoughts go out to all of those affected by this terrible event," Purdue President Mitch Daniels said in a statement on the school's website on Oct. 5.
Daniels added that the school does not have all the details of the incident and the Purdue University Police Department is conducting an ongoing investigation.
The staff at the residence halls, the Office of the Dean of Students, and Purdue's counseling and psychological services are available to support anyone in need at the school of almost 50,000 students in West Lafayette, Indiana, according to his statement. Nearby students at McCutcheon Hall where the call came from, according to WTHR, were moved to another area as police investigated.
"As Purdue’s president, but even more so as a parent myself, I assure you that the safety and security of our students is the single highest priority on our campus," Daniels said in the statement. "Purdue is an extraordinarily safe place on any given day, and compared with cities of Purdue’s population (approximately 60,000 in all), we experience a tiny fraction of violent and property crime that occurs elsewhere.
"Such statistics are of no consolation on a day like this. A death on our campus and among our Purdue family affects each of us deeply."
This article was originally published on TODAY.com
