Update: University Police Chief John Cox and Provost Timothy Sands say that the Purdue community member shot in the altercation was pronounced dead. Cox said the shooter intended to do harm to the victim now identified as 21-year-old Andrew Bolt, an electrical engineering student from Wisconsin, SB Nation reports.
Earlier:
At least one person was shot in Purdue University's Electrical Engineering Building Tuesday on Tuesday around noon. Police have taken one man into custody, WLFI-TV reports.
While little information is available at this time, a text message alert was sent to students, warning of an active shooter. The text told students to shelter in place. Universiy officials have since lifted that order, saying the threat is no longer ongoing.
Purdue University updated its Facebook page Tuesday afternoon saying that all campus buildings were open as of 1:45 p.m. with the exception of the Electrical Engineering Building.
Molly Adams, a senior in Mechanical Engineering, was walking past EE when she heard the piercing sound of gunshots. Here’s her account:
"I heard gunshots. 3-5 gunshots. I got out my phone to call 911, and by then people were running out of the building screaming. I told the cops gunshots (were) fired on ground or first floor of EE, but I didn’t know which since I wasn’t in the building. The other TA of the class, the one who didn’t get shot, was yelling that a TA got shot, to call 911, and to get away from EE. As I told the cops everything I knew, I was yelling to all people around the area to get away because shots were fired. People scattered. And within very little time, cops were pulling up on campus and jumping out of the cars with guns in hand. I then went and took shelter in an office on the first floor of ME."
Ali Bartlett, a Purdue junior, said, "I was in my sorority house with at least 20 of my sisters when it happened. We were watching the news, listening to a police scanner, and following Twitter along with receiving texts from friends that were near the area. The most puzzling about the whole ordeal to all of us was how on earth a shooting just occurred at our school... and we were all expected to be in our 1:30 classes."
John Gipson, an Academic Advisor at Purdue told an Odyssey employee, "I picked the wrong place to go to lunch and it was right outside of where the shooting happened. It was hectic and extremely frightening! Prayers to all at Purdue!"
Caroline McKinney, an Odyssey sales executive said, "It took about 30 frightening minutes to confirm the safety of all of our sisters while the rest of us huddled together in our basement. Social media was our best source of information, although it was plagued with countless rumors of more possible shooters. Our House Mom won't let anyone leave the house for class, not that we feel safe enough to even do so. Our entire student body is very shaken."
Paige Widener, President at Purdue Odyssey added, "I was in the building right next to where the shooting was. I could see the cop cars and etc. We locked our classroom door turned off the lights and put desks in front of the doors. Then we moved to a locked teachers lounge. Of course I was bawling the whole time because school shootings are my worst fear... We were just cleared to go to class, but couldn't go to the crime scene (obviously). I just never thought anything like this would happen at Purdue..."
Other students were shocked not only by the scene itself but also by the speed at which the university's administration returned to normal business.
Kevin Finley, a junior, said, "Pictures of men armed with machine guns were sent, and it seemed campus was in panic. Thirty minutes later, Purdue announced that the campus was secure and that normal operations would resume. I have often felt that the university did not care about me personally, but we had a student shot and killed in a campus building and a university-wide panic, followed by resuming classes and expecting students to walk past a crime scene and maintain a high level of focus for their studies. This is absurd."