Murder charge filed in Purdue University shooting
LAFAYETTE, Ind. - A Purdue University student accused in the shooting of a fellow student in a classroom was formally charged with murder on Thursday.
The Tippecanoe County
prosecutor's office filed the charge against Cody Cousins, 23, shortly
before a scheduled initial court hearing.
The court documents
say 21-year-old Andrew Boldt of West Bend, Wis., suffered both gunshot and
knife wounds when he was fatally attacked shortly before 12:30 p.m. Tuesday in Purdue's Electrical Engineering Building.
The charging document says several other people were in the classroom and witnessed the attack, but it doesn't give a possible motive.
Police say when an
officer arrived, he spotted Cousins sitting on the ground outside the building
with his hands behind his head. The officer said Cousins, who has addresses in
Warsaw, Ind., and Centerville, Ohio, had blood on his hands and clothes.
Cousins was arrested
without incident.
Officers found a knife and handgun on the ground, along with some spent shell casings. Police said there were bloody footprints on the floor outside the room where the shooting took place.
Police have said
Cousins targeted Boldt, but haven't disclosed why or how the two might have
known each other. Both Cousins and Boldt were seniors, and police identified
Boldt as a teaching assistant. Documents posted on the engineering school's
website also listed Cousins as a teaching assistant.
Boldt's funeral is
scheduled for Tuesday in his hometown of West Bend, Wis. The visitation will be
Tuesday afternoon at Saint Frances Cabrini Church, followed by a funeral Mass
that night. Friends from Purdue, as
well as his former classmates from Marquette University
High School in Milwaukee, are invited to attend, as are members of the local
community.
Pastor Nathan Reesman says Boldt's family members continue to request that their privacy be respected. He also asks that media not attend the visitation and funeral.