Student kills parents at US university, remains at large: officials

Chicago, United States | AFP | A university student fatally shot his parents on his school campus Friday in the US state of Michigan before fleeing and setting off an hours-long manhunt, officials said.

The early morning incident put the campus into lockdown — trapping students in classrooms and dormitories until mid-afternoon — while police conducted an expansive search for the 19-year-old suspected gunman.

James Eric Davis, described as a university student, remained at large. He was accused of killing his father, a police officer, and mother in a shooting inside a dormitory building in what a university police spokesman described as a “family-type domestic issue.”

There were no other casualties.

The college campus in the city of Mount Pleasant in central Michigan was on lockdown hours after the 8:30 a.m. (1330 GMT) shooting, as federal, state and local law enforcement searched for Davis using helicopters and police dogs.

Heavily armed officers fanned out throughout the city, and residents and students were asked to stay inside and lock their doors.

University officials announced at 3:00 p.m. (2000 GMT) that students were finally being escorted out of buildings by police.

“Uniformed officers are beginning to assist individuals in leaving campus buildings. Officers will be going building to building,” the university said in a statement.

– Suspect known to police –

Davis, who was a resident of nearby Illinois state but attending college in Michigan, was known to law enforcement.

Police took him to a hospital the night before for what was believed to be a “drug-related type of incident — an overdose or a bad reaction to drugs,” campus police spokesman Larry Klaus told a news conference.

He was then released to hospital staff, Klaus said.

An Illinois state legislator identified Davis’s victims as his parents, who lived in a Chicago suburb.