Student fatally stabbed at college; suspect held

Freshman Joao Souza was killed in a residence suite on the SUNY campus, and another student was arrested.

After a daylong search by multiple police agencies, a SUNY Binghamton student was taken into custody Monday as a suspect in the stabbing death of a 19-year-old freshman, police said.

Authorities did not disclose the name or any other information about the suspect at a 5 p.m. news conference, other than to say he was a student at the college. Police said more details would be released later Monday evening or Tuesday morning.

Engineering student Joao Souza was attacked about 10:30 p.m. Sunday in a residence suite on the campus. Souza previously attended high school in Westchester County and was a native of Brazil, where his family was notified, according to the university.

Jonathan Ross, superintendent of the Blind Brook school district in Westchester County, told the Journal News that Souza graduated last year from Blind Brook High School in Rye Brook, where he was a standout soccer player.

“Law enforcement believes the attack was not a random act and that the victim was targeted,” university Vice President Brian Rose said.

Earlier in the afternoon, university police released surveillance photos of the suspect wearing dark pants and a dark, hooded sweatshirt as they asked for the public’s help.

Police searching for the suspect were being aided by forest rangers in wooded areas.

The school, one of the four university centers in New York’s sprawling state university system, canceled classes Monday due to what it called a “tragic event.” Counseling was being offered to students and staff.

This was the second slaying of a SUNY Binghamton student in the last two months. On March 9, the body of Haley Anderson, of Westbury on Long Island, was found in the off-campus apartment of a fellow student she briefly dated. She had been strangled.

“For the second time this semester, we’ve struggled to absorb the news that one of our students has been killed,” Rose said.

The Broome County District Attorney’s office is seeking to have the suspect in the March case returned from Nicaragua to stand trial.