Cops: Victims of Campus Shooter Were His Parents

Over 100 officers searched for 19-year-old suspect near Central Michigan University
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Mar 2, 2018 7:31 PM CST
Cops: Victims of Campus Shooter Were His Parents
Law enforcement officers search a wooded area for a suspect involved in a shooting at a Central Michigan University residence hall on Friday, March 2, 2018 in Mt. Pleasant, Mich.   (Matthew Dae Smith/Lansing State Journal via AP)

More than 100 police officers, some heavily armed in camouflage uniforms, searched neighborhoods near Central Michigan University on Friday for a 19-year-old student suspected of killing his parents at a dormitory and then running from campus, the AP reports. The shooting at Campbell Hall happened on a day when parents were arriving to pick up students for the beginning of a week-long spring break. Police released a photo of James Davis Jr., urging the public to call 911 if they see him but also warning that he shouldn't be confronted. Hours after a campus lockdown, police started a "slow, methodical removal" of staff and students who were ordered to take shelter in campus buildings, Lt. Larry Klaus said.

The university identified the two dead as Davis' mother Diva Davis and father James Davis Sr., a part-time police officer. Klaus said video at the dorm suggests Davis fled on foot after the shooting. The search was focused on Mount Pleasant neighborhoods near campus. Officers in camouflage knocked on doors and checked possible hiding places, such as yards and porches. In the surrounding community, students and staff in the Mount Pleasant school district were told not to leave nine buildings. Klaus said Davis was taken to a hospital Thursday night by campus police because of a drug-related health problem, possibly an overdose.

(More school shooting stories.)

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