Thousands of students are grieving after a shooting at Purdue University Tuesday, Jan. 21, left teacher’s assistant Andrew Boldt dead.
The campus went into lock-down after the incident, as police searched for the alleged shooter, 23-year-old Cody Cousins.
It is believed Cousins had a specific target, as the shooting was an isolated incident with no other victims. Cousins, who is also a teacher’s assistant at the university, is now in custody at the Tippecanoe County Jail on a preliminary charge of murder. He was arrested without resistance, and police raided his home near Purdue’s campus around 4 p.m. Tuesday.
The relationship between Cousins and Boldt remains uncertain. According to the U.K.’s Daily Mail, Police Chief John Cox said there had been “little to no cooperation with the individual we took into custody.”
The shooting took place in a basement classroom of the electrical engineering building, and police confirmed that there were no other suspects. Student Nick Wieland was in a neighboring classroom when he heard gunfire. “I heard a couple [shots] and then I heard a man scream … [I was] just very scared. That’s what I felt the entire time,” said Wieland.
A vigil will be held Tuesday evening for Boldt, a native of Wisconsin, on Purdue’s campus.