SUBURBAN TEEN THE SUSPECT IN CENTRAL MICHIGAN UNIVERSITY SHOOTING
Police: Student gun ned down parents; father was part-time Bell wood officer
MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. — More than 100 police officers, some heavily armed in camouflage uniforms, searched neighborhoods near Central Michigan University on Friday for James Eric Davis Jr., a 19- year- old student from suburban Plainfield suspected of killing his parents at a dormitory and then running from campus.
The shooting at Campbell Hall happened on a day when parents were arriving to pick up students for the beginning of a weeklong spring break.
Late Friday, CNN reported that university officials said Davis had been captured by campus police.
The university identified the two dead as his mother, Diva Davis, and father, James Davis Sr., a part- time police officer in Bellwood.
Davis Sr. had served in the west suburb since 1999, according to Bellwood Police Chief Jiminez Allen, who said “his contributions to our community positively impacted everyone he served and served with.”
“While we await additional details, we will provide grief counseling and other supportive services to those in need,” Allen said in a statement. “We will also provide assistance requested by our fellow law enforcement agencies as they work hard to seek justice.”
The shooting occurred around 8: 30 a. m. at a residence hall at Central Michigan, which is about 70 miles north of Lansing.
Lt. Larry Klaus said video at the dorm suggests Davis fled on foot after the shooting. He was wearing a hoodie but had been shedding certain clothes while on the run.
“This has been a tragic day. … The hurting will go on for a while,” said university President George Ross.
The search was focused on Mount Pleasant neighborhoods near campus. Officers in camouflage knocked on doors and checked possible hiding places, such as yards and porches. In the surrounding community, students and staff in the Mount Pleasant school district were told not to leave nine buildings.
Klaus said Davis was taken to a hospital Thursday night by campus police because of a drug- related health problem, possibly an overdose.
Davis graduated from Central High School in Plainfield in 2016, said Tom Hernandez, a spokesman for Plainfield School District 202.
Parents who were trying to pick up students were told instead to go to a local hotel where staff would assist them while the manhunt was ongoing.
The school posted an alert Friday morning on social media about shots being fired at Campbell Hall. An automated phone message was sent to students.
Halie Byron, 20, said she locked herself in her off- campus house, about a 10- minute walk from the dorm. She had planned to run errands before traveling home to southeastern Michigan.
“It’s scary thinking about how easy a shooter can come into a college campus anywhere — a classroom, a library. There’s so much easy access,” Byron said.