Student kills teaching assistant at Purdue University in Indiana

USPA News - A student opened fire Tuesday inside a basement classroom on the campus of Purdue University in Indiana, killing a teacher assistant in a shooting that investigators believe was targeted, campus police said. The suspect was arrested within minutes.

The incident happened at around 12:03 p.m. local time when 23-year-old Cody M. Cousins of Warsaw, Indiana, allegedly fired four or five shots in a basement classroom in the Electrical Engineering Building at Purdue University, which is located in West Lafayette, located about 58 miles (93 kilometers) northwest of Indianapolis. Fellow student and teaching assistant Andrew F. Boldt, 21, of West Bend, Wisconsin, was killed by the gunfire. Cousins then fled the classroom and left the building before surrendering to police officers just outside the Electrical Engineering Building, only minutes after the shooting. "This was not a typical active shooting. It appears to be an isolated and intentional act and not a random shooting," said Purdue police chief John Cox. He said emergency personnel arrived on the scene within minutes and secured the building, but a shelter-in-place order remained in effect until 1:15 p.m. as a precaution. A possible motive for the shooting was not immediately clear. Cousins was taken to the Tippecanoe County Jail after his arrest and is expected to be charged with murder. "Violent crime, whenever and wherever it occurs, shocks our conscience and incites our rage. When it happens in our home, to a family member - and as a Boilermaker Andrew Boldt was family to us - those emotions are more powerful still," Purdue University President Mitch Daniels said. "Our prayers tonight are with Andrew and with his parents, who have suffered a loss beyond calculation or consolation." University officials said classes would remain suspended until Thursday and counseling services were being offered to students, many of whom attended a candlelight vigil on campus on Tuesday evening. Purdue Provost Tim Sands said he hoped the service would help students start their healing process.