Police say the campus shooting in Michigan is likely a 'family-type domestic issue'

A Central Michigan University student suspected of killing his parents Friday has been taken into custody by police.

James Eric Davis Jr., a 19-year-old sophomore, was being picked up by his parents for spring break when he is believed to have fatally shot his mother, Diva Davis, and father, James Davis Sr., at his dorm. Police launched a major manhunt for Davis Jr. and arrested him without incident after he was spotted on a train near campus late Friday night.

Police Lt. Larry Klaus reported the suspect was hospitalized the night before the attack and there could be a "mental health component" to the crime. "At some point in the evening, he was transported to McLaren Hospital," Klaus said, "due to what the officers believed may be a drug-related-type incident, an overdose or a bad reaction to drugs."

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

Join more than 350,000 subscribers and keep yourself informed with a selection of The Week’s most interesting, enlightening and entertaining stories - plus daily puzzles.

Join more than 350,000 subscribers and keep yourself informed with a selection of The Week’s most interesting, enlightening and entertaining stories - plus daily puzzles.

Sign up

The investigation is ongoing, but at present, Klaus added, police consider it "a family-type domestic issue." Authorities said the gun used in the attack belonged to the suspect's father. It is unknown when the weapon arrived on campus or whether it was the service revolver Davis Sr. was issued for his work as a police officer in Bellwood, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago.