Officer fatally shoots armed man on Indiana college campus after suspect doesn’t respond to commands
FORT WAYNE, Ind. (AP) — A police officer fatally shot an armed man on a northeastern college campus Tuesday after the suspect failed to respond to officers’ commands, police said.
The shooting at Purdue University Fort Wayne prompted school officials to close the campus for the remainder of Tuesday in the city about 120 miles (190 kilometers) northeast of Indianapolis.
Chief Scott Caudill of the Fort Wayne Police Department said the man who was shot was pronounced dead at the scene.
The man’s name had not been released by authorities by Tuesday afternoon and it was unclear whether he was shot by a Fort Wayne officer or a Purdue-Fort Wayne officer.
Messages left Tuesday by The Associated Press seeking additional details from the Fort Wayne police spokesperson were not immediately returned.
Caudill said the DeKalb County Community Corrections office contacted his department about 7:15 a.m. seeking help locating a man who had failed to return to their custody. Minutes later, police learned the suspect might be armed with a handgun and was possibly on the Purdue-Fort Wayne campus, he said.
Fort Wayne and campus officers found the armed man walking on the campus and approached him, but Caudill said the suspect did not respond to their commands. He said that at 7:48 a.m., officers notified dispatch “that shots had been fired and the subject was struck.”
Caudill said Fort Wayne police and Indiana State Police are investigating the shooting along with the Purdue University Fort Wayne Police Department, Allen County prosecutors and the county coroner.