A gunman killed another man Tuesday at Purdue University. The shooting is one of several in U.S. schools this month.
According to the university, the suspect, a male student, is reported to have left the building after the shooting and was arrested by police. The victim is believed to have been the intended target, according to the Indiana school's police chief. The shooting occurred around noon in the basement of the electrical engineering building.
The victim has been identified by police as Andrew Boldt, a 21-year-old student and teaching assistant from West Bend, Wisconsin and the suspect as Cody Cousins, a 23-year-old student and teaching assistant from Centerville, Ohio. According to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, a motive for the shooting has not yet been determined.
According to the university, Cousins is currently held in the Tippecanoe County Jail on a single count of murder. A search was conducted by campus and city police of Cousins home. Police are not yet releasing details about the search.
The university reports students, staff and faculty were urged through text message alerts to take shelter Tuesday afternoon. The campus is now deemed safe. Purdue University classes are cancelled for Wednesday and a candlelight vigil was held Tuesday night. University counseling services are currently offered.
The Milwauke Journal Sentinel reports Boldt and Cousins were both teaching assistants in the Electrical Engineering building. Boldt was working as a teaching assistant in a class on microprocessor system design and interface when Cousins shot him. Cousins reportedly walked into the classroom, shot Boldt and immediately left the classroom. He was arrested by police shortly after exiting the building.
Tuesday's shooting follows a string of shootings at schools in Pennsylvania, Georgia and New Mexico. A student was shot and wounded on Monday night at Widener University in Chester, Pennsylvania.
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