This undated photo provided by Central Michigan University shows James Eric Davis Jr., who police identified as the shooting suspect at a Central Michigan University residence hall on Friday, March 2, 2018. Investigators said neither victim was a student and described the shooting as a "family-type domestic situation." (Courtesy of Central Michigan University via AP)
MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. (AP) — Police in camouflage uniforms searched house-to-house near the campus of Central Michigan University on Friday for a student suspected of fatally shooting two people at a dormitory and then fleeing into the neighborhood.
Police released a photo of James Eric Davis Jr., urging the public to call 911 if they see him but also warning that the 19-year-old shouldn’t be confronted. The campus was locked down, and students and staff were told to find shelter.
“He should be considered armed and dangerous,” campus police Lt. Larry Klaus said.
The shooting occurred around 8:30 a.m. at Campbell Hall, a residence hall at Central Michigan, which is about 70 miles (112.6 kilometers) north of Lansing. Police described the shooting as a “family-type domestic situation” and said the victims were not students.
Police declined to confirm news reports that said Davis had fatally shot his parents when they came to pick him up for spring break.
Klaus said video at the dorm suggests Davis fled on foot after the shooting. He was wearing a hoodie but had been shedding certain clothes while on the run.
The search was focused on Mount Pleasant neighborhoods near campus. Officers in camouflage knocked on doors and checked possible hiding places, such as yards and porches. In the surrounding community, students and staff in the Mount Pleasant school district were told not to leave nine buildings.
Klaus said Davis was taken to a hospital Thursday night by campus police because of a drug-related health problem, possibly an overdose. No other details were released.
Davis is from Plainfield, Illinois, and graduated from Central High School in 2016, said Tom Hernandez, a spokesman for Plainfield School District 202.
The shooting occurred on the last day of classes before a weeklong break. Parents who were trying to pick up students were told instead to go to a local hotel where staff would assist them while the manhunt was ongoing.
A student, Tyler Whipple, was driving through campus when his route was blocked off by police cars at the scene of the killings. He had to catch a flight to Florida.
“These roads are kind of spooky right now,” Whipple said.
The school posted an alert Friday morning on social media about shots being fired at Campbell Hall. An automated phone message also was sent to students.
Halie Byron, 20, said she locked herself in her off-campus house, about a 10-minute walk from Campbell Hall. She had planned to run errands before traveling home to the Detroit area.
“It’s scary thinking about how easy a shooter can come into a college campus anywhere — a classroom, a library. There’s so much easy access,” Byron said.
In the surrounding community, students and staff in the Mount Pleasant school district were told not to leave nine buildings. Visitors also weren’t being allowed to enter.
Police Officer and His Wife Fatally Shot on Central Michigan University Campus
Poster Comment:
A gun free zone. Unknown if dad the cop was carrying.
#1: misterwhite To: hondo68 (#0)
So other students knew, but said nothing.
misterwhite posted on 2018-03-03 10:36:32 Reply Private Reply
#2: misterwhite To: hondo68 (#0)
"But the student told us Davis had stopped going to class and seemed to be smoking a lot of marijuana. "I know he dropped all his classes, cuz he’d just chill in his room and smoke weed all day he had no ambition or nothin’," he says."
Hmmmm. So he followed Timothy Leary's advice and decided to "turn on, tune in, and drop out". Isn't marijuana great?
Then he ends up in the hospital and is released into his parent's arms -- who probably told him they were pulling him out of school and putting him in rehab. So he killed them.
misterwhite posted on 2018-03-03 10:50:43 Reply Private Reply
#3: Stoner To: misterwhite (#2)
Sounds very likely to me !!
What a damn shame, that a kid would be so effed up that he would kill both of his parents !!!
Typical potato / ghetto ape !
Probably will get shock probation by some snowflake judge / parole board, because he has no family. wah wah wah, sniff sniff ! spit !
Stoner posted on 2018-03-04 09:25:00 Reply Private Reply
#4: misterwhite To: Stoner (#3)
Whatever drug put him in the hospital, his lawyer will claim it was the residual effects of that drug that caused him to kill his parents. In addition, had his father not given him that gun, well, they'd both be alive today.
The defense rests, yer honor.
misterwhite posted on 2018-03-04 11:07:48 Reply Private Reply
#5: misterwhite To: Stoner (#3)
He has to wonder -- gee, I got into this college, why can't I pass the courses?
misterwhite posted on 2018-03-04 11:12:47 Reply Private Reply
#6: GrandIsland To: Stoner (#3)
Damn potatoes...
GrandIsland posted on 2018-03-04 11:14:26 Reply Private Reply
#7: Hondo68 To: misterwhite, Stoner, psycho drugs (#4)
There's a possibility that it could have been prescription drug(s) from his doctor.
Another Big Pharma assisted psycho killer? The doc should catch an accessory to murder beef, as well as getting sued by the surviving family. Asset forfeiture done right!
Hondo68 posted on 2018-03-04 11:51:13 Reply Private Reply
#8: misterwhite To: hondo68 (#7)
Remote. My guess is he hit up his marijuana drug dealer for some stronger drugs which put him in the hospital. The hospital then called his parents and the rest is history.
The sad thing is, this will go down as a "school shooting" and will be added to the statistics as such.
misterwhite posted on 2018-03-04 12:03:52 Reply Private Reply
#9: Liberator To: hondo68 (#0)
I blame Rap and the NBA.
Liberator posted on 2018-03-04 12:25:32 Reply Private Reply
#10: Liberator To: misterwhite (#5)
We'll never get that info. OR the truth in this matter. UNLESS the kid's parents were Republicans or NRA members.
Another "guns!" case that STINKS.
Liberator posted on 2018-03-04 12:28:19 Reply Private Reply
#11: misterwhite To: Liberator (#10)
Worse. It's a "school shooting".
misterwhite posted on 2018-03-04 12:32:54 Reply Private Reply
#12: misterwhite To: Liberator (#10)
You're right. He was an aspiring nuclear physicist who made a mistake. We all make mistakes, don't we?
He grew up in Illinois with his parents. Yet he went to college in Michigan. Out-of-state tuition is like double. Couldn't get in to Illinois colleges?
misterwhite posted on 2018-03-04 12:38:17 Reply Private Reply
#13: Liberator To: misterwhite (#11)
Yeah.
Another headline:
'MSM LIES AGAIN ABOUT GUNS AND SCHOOL SHOOTINGS'
Liberator posted on 2018-03-04 12:58:37 Reply Private Reply
#14: Liberator To: misterwhite (#12)
Yeah...tough break for the kid. We lost another future pillar of society.
He grew up in Illinois with his parents. Yet he went to college in Michigan. Out-of-state tuition is like double. Couldn't get in to Illinois colleges?
AA? There is faaaar more to this story. BUT IT WILL BE DISCOVERED AND TOLD.
Liberator posted on 2018-03-04 13:00:57 Reply Private Reply