A manhunt ended Saturday for a 19-year-old student suspected of killing his parents at a Central Michigan University dormitory.
James Eric Davis Jr., 19, as arrested early Saturday morning, an officer with Mount Pleasant Public Safety said. More than 100 officers had been searching campus-area neighborhoods, some heavily armed in camouflage uniforms.
The shooting Friday at Campbell Hall happened on a day when parents were arriving to pick up students for the beginning of a weeklong spring break.
Police released a photo of James Eric Davis Jr., urging the public to call 911 if they see him but also warning that he shouldn’t be confronted. Hours after a campus lockdown, police started a “slow, methodical removal” of staff and students who were ordered to take shelter in campus buildings, Lt. Larry Klaus said.
“He should be considered armed and dangerous,” Klaus said of Davis.
Parents killed
The university identified the two dead as his mother Diva Davis and father James Davis Sr., a part-time police officer in the Chicago suburb of Bellwood. The shooting occurred around 8:30 a.m. at a residence hall at Central Michigan, which is about 70 miles (112.6 kilometers) north of Lansing.
“This has been a tragic day. … The hurting will go on for a while,” said university President George Ross.
The search had been 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.
Chicago-area family
The Davis family is from Plainfield, Illinois, about 38 miles (61 kilometers) southwest of Chicago. Davis Jr. graduated from Central High School in 2016, said Tom Hernandez, a spokesman for Plainfield School District 202.
Bellwood Police Chief Jiminez Allen released a statement Friday night praising Davis Sr.’s work.
Davis’ “contributions to our community positively impacted everyone he served and served with,” Allen said.
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