Early on Wednesday morning, a 20-year-old Purdue University student was discovered dead in his dorm room at McCutcheon Hall. His roommate has been arrested.
According to ABC, Purdue University Chief of Police Lesley Weite said at a news conference that the suspect, 22-year-old international student Gji ‘Jimmy’ Min Sha, a junior majoring in cyber security, called 911 to report the incident at 12:44 a.m.
During a press conference, Officer Weite said a preliminary autopsy found Chheda’s death was caused by “multiple sharp force traumatic injuries.”
According to MEAWW, residents heard a “scream or some loud noises” that woke them up in the middle of the night.
Both roommates were awake during the incident, and the murder in the first-floor dorm room was “unprovoked and senseless.” Authorities are still investigating the motive for Chheda’s death.
On Wednesday, Purdue University president Mitch Daniels said in a statement sent to students and staff following the incident that their hearts are with those affected as a unified campus.
“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,” Daniels said.
Chheda majored in Senior data science and is remembered in his obituary as having “loved the sciences, was very inquisitive and his passion for any subject matter was contagious.”
Chedda was a National Merit Scholarship Award Winner and a national runner-up in the Science Bowl Competition in 2016.
His arrangements are scheduled for Sunday, from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. at Leppert Mortuary in Indianapolis, Indiana. Prayers and thoughts are with the Chedda family.
