Purdue University student Varun Manish Chheda killed in ‘senseless’ dorm room murder
A 20-year-old student at Purdue University was killed in his dorm room early Wednesday and his roommate was arrested for what Indiana police called an “unprovoked and senseless” murder.
Varun Manish Chheda, 20, a senior majoring in data science, was discovered dead in his room at McCutcheon Hall in West Lafayette after the suspect, 22-year-old Ji Min “Jimmy” Sha, called 911 to report the killing at 12:44 a.m., campus police said, according to Journal & Courier.
Purdue University Chief of Police Lesley Weite said during a press briefing that Sha, a junior majoring in cybersecurity, was quickly taken into custody on a charge of murder in Chheda’s death.
Weite said the suspect is an international student from South Korea.
The student died of “multiple sharp force traumatic injuries” and the manner of death was a homicide, according to preliminary autopsy results reported by NBC.
Weite did not comment on a possible motive behind the slaying but said she believes “this was unprovoked and senseless.”
Chheda would have turned 21 in less than two weeks.
The final autopsy findings are pending toxicology, the coroner’s office told NBC.
A campus spokesperson said there is no threat to the community.
“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,” Purdue President Mitch Daniels said in a statement.
The statement continued: “As Purdue’s president, but even more so as a parent myself, I assure you that the safety and security of our students is the single highest priority on our campus.”
