The Tippecanoe County Coroner’s Office has identified the victim as a 20-year-old Varun Manish Chheda from Indianapolis.
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Purdue University police are investigating the murder of a student in an apartment overnight.
A Purdue University spokesperson confirmed that the 911 call was made to the Purdue University Police Department at 12:44 a.m. early Wednesday morning. The caller was McCutcheon Hall.
The suspect, who is the roommate of the victim’s called the police and is now in custody. The threat is not in the area, a university spokesperson stated.
The Tippecanoe County Coroner’s Office has identified the victim as a 20-year-old Varun Manish Chheda of Indianapolis.
An Purdue University Police Department spokesperson refused to divulge additional information regarding the details of the incident. He referred the inquiry at university authorities.
“This is the most tragic incident as we could imagine occurring on our campus and our thoughts and hearts are with all those who are affected by this devastating tragedy,” Purdue University President Mitch Daniels said in a statement addressed to staff and students on Wednesday morning.
An investigation into the murder is currently underway.
Daniels” full statement to Purdue students, faculty and staff:
We would like to thank you for being part of the Purdue family,
I am writing to inform you that in the early hours of this morning the student who was ours died in the residence hall. The suspect, who is the roommate of the victim, called the authorities to make the report. He is now in police custody.
This is as horrific an incident as we could imagine occurring on our campus, and our thoughts and hearts are with all the people affected by this tragic incident.
We don’t have all the information at this time. The Purdue University Police Department is conducting a thorough investigation into this incident , so we can all find out more about what happened.
As always personnel from Our Office of the Dean of Students, our Residence Halls and the counselors from the Purdue’s Counseling and Psychological Services are offering support and assistance to anyone who requires their assistance.
As the president of Purdue, and more importantly, as a parent I am able to am confident that the security and safety for our college students are our single top priority for our campus. Purdue is a remarkably secure place at any time of the day, and when compared to cities with Purdue’s size (approximately 60,000 in total) We are only very little of the violence and property crimes that happen in other cities.
The statistics mentioned above are no comfort on a day such as this. The loss of life on our campus or within our Purdue family members affects all of us profoundly.
I am forever thankful to you all who always take time to take care of one another and I am sure you will continue to do so in the coming days.
Sincerely,
Mitch Daniels
President