Roommate in Custody After Purdue University Student Killed in Dorm: Police

Officials said the suspect, Ji Min Sha, called campus police to the dorm room he shared with the victim, Varun Manish Chheda

By

Chris Harris

Published on October 5, 2022 03:15PM EDT

A 22-year-old Purdue University student who is facing a murder charge in connection with the death of his 20-year-old roommate called authorities to their dorm room soon after Wednesday morning's fatal incident.

Purdue Police Chief Lesley Wiete identified the victim as Varun Manish Chheda, a data science major at the renowned West Lafayette, Ind., school.

Wiete would not speculate on a motive while talking to reporters earlier this morning, but did say the suspect — a South Korean national named Ji Min Sha — lived with the victim in a first-floor dorm room in McCutcheon Hall.

The killing happened in their shared dorm room, which is where Purdue University police took Sha into custody.

Students in adjacent rooms were moved to safety.

Sha, who goes by the nickname Jimmy, is a cyber security major at Purdue, Wiete said.

An autopsy performed on Wednesday revealed that Chheda was stabbed to death, CBS4 Indy reports. He died from "multiple sharp force traumatic injuries," according to the Tippecanoe County Coroner's Office, per the outlet.

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Mitch Daniels, Purdue's president, released a statement this morning, calling the crime "as tragic an event as we can imagine happening on our campus."

Daniels added: "Our hearts and thoughts go out to all of those affected by this terrible event. We do not have all the details yet. Our Purdue University Police Department is conducting a thorough investigation of this incident so that we all may learn more about what transpired."

Counselors are being provided to students who need them.

Daniels' statement notes that "the safety and security of our students is the single highest priority on our campus."

It is unclear if Sha has retained an attorney who can speak on his behalf.

This is the second homicide on the school's campus in less than a decade.

On Jan. 14, 2014, Cody Cousins stabbed fellow student Andrew Boldt, 21, to death in Purdue's Electrical Engineering building, reports the Indianapolis Star.

He openly confessed to the killing, pleaded guilty in court and received a 65-year prison sentence.

Cousins, 24, died by suicide in prison in late 2014.