A Purdue University freshman facing drug charges fatally shot the dorm counselor who reported him to police, then locked himself in his bedroom and killed himself, authorities said.
Police found Jarrod Allan Eskew, 18, dead after storming his room with tear gas Wednesday. Jay Severson, a 27-year-old graduate, was killed with a shotgun blast.Severson, a supervisor in the men's dormitory housing mostly freshmen, found Eskew smoking cocaine in a dorm room Tuesday and told police, said Severson's father, Donald.
"He was just doing his job," the elder Severson told The Indianapolis Star.
Police searched Eskew's room and car and found cocaine, Purdue spokeswoman Jeanne Norberg said. Eskew had not been arrested but knew police had impounded his car, she said.
A shotgun-wielding Eskew entered Severson's third-floor room, fired a single shot, then ran down the hall into his room and later shot himself, said officials at the 35,000-student university, about an hour's drive northwest of Indianapolis.
"I just heard a big, loud blast. And then I heard what sounded like something dropping," said freshman Kevin France, who lives a floor above Eskew's room. "It was so loud, I could feel the floor shaking."