WEST LAFAYETTE (WBBM NEWSRADIO) - A Purdue University student is dead...and a roommate is in custody...after a murder in a residence hall overnight.
Campus police said the phone call from McCutcheon Hall came in just before 1:00 a.m. from the student's roommate.
The Tippecanoe County Coroner's Office identified the victim as 20-year-old Varun Manish Chheda of Indianapolis. Chheda was just 10 days shy of his 21st birthday, according to the Indianapolis Star. Police University Department Chief Lesley Wiete said at a morning press conference Chheda was a senior, studying data science.
Police identified the suspect as 22-year-old Gji Min Sha, an international student from South Korea. According to Wiete, Min Sha is a junior, majoring in cyber security. He will be charged with murder, police said.
White explained why the department did not send out an alert after the murder.
"If we did not have the suspect as quickly as we did, we absolutely would have sent out a Purdue alert, but we had him very quickly and there no threat to campus by this individual any further."
In a message to students, University President Mitch Daniels said it is a tragic and terrible event and that counselors and support staff will be available to those who need them.
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