Early Wednesday morning at 12:44 a.m., the Purdue University Police Department responded to a 911 call from the campus residence hall. A student in the hall was found dead in his dorm room and his roommate was arrested, Fox 10 Phoenix reported.
The 911 call came from the victim’s roommate, according to WNDU. Purdue University President Mitch Daniels said that the roommate is suspected of murdering the victim.
At the scene, the suspect was quickly apprehended and details of his call to report the crime haven’t been disclosed, NBC News reported.
The victim was identified as Varun Manish Chheda, a 20-year-old data science student. A preliminary autopsy revealed that Chheda’s death was a homicide and was caused by “multiple sharp force traumatic injuries,” according to NBC.
ABC 7 reports Chheda’s roommate and murder suspect, 22-year-old Min Sha, is under investigation and has not been formally charged. Sha is an international student from South Korea who is studying cybersecurity.
WNDU reported that Purdue Police Chief Lesley Wiete described the murder as “unprovoked and senseless.” Students on the same floor where the crime took place were questioned by officers as part of the investigation.
Daniels released a statement on Wednesday on the matter. Daniels offered his condolences to those impacted by the death and let the community know of the ongoing investigation.
“I assure you that the safety and security of our students is the single highest priority on our campus,” Daniels said in the statement.