Purdue Student Allegedly Murdered by Roommate

One Purdue University student is dead and another is in police custody following an apparent homicide early Wednesday in a dorm on the West Lafayette, Ind., campus, per the Indianapolis Star. University police are investigating, but few details have emerged. In a statement, Purdue President Mitch Daniels said, "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." Police say they received a 911 call around 12:45am from the suspect, who's said to be the victim's roommate, per NBC News.

According to WTHR, the Tippecanoe County coroner identified the victim as Varun Manish Chheda, 20, of Indianapolis, a senior majoring in data science. Meanwhile, University Police Chief Lesley Weite IDed the suspect as 22-year-old Gji Min Sha, a cybersecurity major who's a junior, per ABC News. Some students in the dorm reported hearing a "scream or some loud noises," according to FOX 59. Others told a reporter they received no alert from the school about the murder.

A Purdue spokesman said no campus alert was issued because the suspect had called and surrendered to police, and there was no ongoing threat to the community. In his statement, President Daniels added that "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." (More Purdue University stories.)