WEST LAFAYETTE – Students at Purdue University attended class on Wednesday, but the mood on campus was somber. It followed a violent night where allegedly the roommate of 20 year old engineering student Varun Chheda stabbed him to death. Students who lived in the dorm where it happened said they were shocked such a violent act could happen on campus where they feel safe.
"It never really crossed my mind that something like this would happen,” Nils Haugan, who lives in McCutcheon Hall where the homicide happened, said. “I mean you hear about shootings, but like a stabbing, that's crazy. "
The university didn't notify students until several hours after the crime occurred, something some feel wasn’t ok.
"I don't want to assume, but they didn't take the necessary measures I believe in my opinion to address this kind of circumstance that happened last night, “ Diego Asturias who lives at McCutcheon Hall, said.
The homicide has some students on edge and feeling a lack of safety.
"I feel, I felt very safe in my residence hall,” Alejandro Perdomo, a McCutcheon Hall resident, said. “We never locked our doors, but now with this we are definitely going to sleep with our doors locked."
Even though many students didn’t know Chheda personally, they say it still feels like they lost someone special.
"Even if I don't know the person, I don't know like fully what happened, because it's such a family atmosphere and we are all Boilermakers. it just really hurts when you hear something like this," Andrew Hainer, another resident of McCutcheon Hall, said.
Chheda was a 2020 graduate of Park Tudor in Indianapolis.
-
The force is strong at the Indy Lightsaber Academy
Once a week, in the galaxy not-so far away, about a dozen Jedis-in-training gather at Garfield Park to knock each other around with lightsabers.Central Indiana's fallen officers remembered during memorial
On Friday, the families and friends of law enforcement officers killed in the line of duty came together under one roof to lean on each other.Property taxes, crime and more: 1 on 1 with Republican Gubernatorial candidates
We asked all six of them the same questions about issues WRTV has previously reported on, hoping it will help Hoosiers make an informed decision when they cast their vote.Meet Mike Vollmer — a member of the Indy Mini-Marathon Alumni Club
Mike Vollmer a member of the Indy Mini Alumni Club, a group of only 5 people who are able to say they've participated in every single race since 1977.