Purdue University student killed in dorm, roommate arrested

A 20-year-old student at Purdue University in Indiana was killed in his dorm room early Wednesday, school officials said. His 22-year-old roommate is now in police custody on a charge of murder.

Varun Manish Chheda, a senior majoring in data science, was found dead inside his room at McCutcheon Hall, after the suspect, Gji Min Sha, called 911 at 12:44 a.m., Purdue University Chief of Police Lesley Weite said. The suspect is an international student from South Korea studying cyber security.

The Tippecanoe County Coroner's Office said Chheda died from multiple sharp force traumatic injuries. "I believe this was unprovoked and senseless," Weite told reporters. "Our hearts go out to the victim and his family and friends. I can't even imagine what his family is going through."

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Purdue University President Mitch Daniels said in a statement 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."