Purdue University student accused of killing roommate is taken to jail
Ji Min Sha, 22, was identified as the suspect by Purdue Police Chief Lesley Wiete during a press conference in the killing of Varun Manish Chheda.
Andrew Wu remembers Varun Manish Chheda as one of the best people he has ever met.
In an interview with Fox News Digital on Thursday, the MIT student said his friend from middle school and Park Tudor School was a great person.
"I guess I just can't emphasize enough, he's just a really, really good person. I think one of the best people I've ever met, for sure," Wu said. "He's super, super kind."
"You know, the kind of person who just would always sacrifice anything to be with his friends, his family," he added.
MEMORIAL HELD FOR PURDUE UNIVERSITY STUDENT KILLED IN RESIDENCE HALL
Varun Manish Chheda, 20, was killed at his Purdue University dorm earlier this week. (Sycamore School)
Chheda, an Indianapolis native and a senior in the College of Science, was killed inside the McCutcheon Hall residence hall at Purdue University.
Fox 59 reported that hundreds attended a candlelight vigil in the 20-year-old's honor on Wednesday night.
Ji Min Sha, the 22-year-old suspect accused of killing Chheda, was taken into custody and preliminarily charged with murder after university officials said the roommate made a 911 call at 12:44 a.m. ET regarding the death.
The Tippecanoe County coroner said Chheda was killed by "multiple sharp force traumatic injuries," and that the manner of death is homicide.
It was an act that Purdue Police Chief Lesley Wiete told reporters was "unprovoked and senseless."
Purdue University Police Chief Lesley Wiete addresses the media during a press conference following the murder of Purdue student Varun Manish Chheda, Wednesday, Oct. 5, 2022 at McCutcheon Hall in West Lafayette, Indiana. (Alex Martin/Journal and Courier / USA TODAY NETWORK)
When asked by reporters why he allegedly killed Chheda, Sha responded: "I love my family."
He has not been formally charged.
WTHR reported Thursday that police confirmed Chheda had been gaming online with friends the night he died, and Wu told the outlet that he heard screaming through the gaming platform.
"He never, ever talked about his roommate really," Wu noted.
Although he is a year older than Chheda, the pair always kept in touch.
PURDUE UNIVERSITY DORM MURDER SUSPECT UTTERS 'I LOVE MY FAMILY' BEFORE ENTERING JAIL
"We've been really close friends for a long time. I mean, we both did a lot of science and math stuff, completions and all that," Wu said.
The National Science Bowl was a big part of their relationship.
"The biggest thing for him, I think, in high school was Science Bowl. I mean, he was so good at it. He knew like every single science ever, and he knew it so well," Wu recalled.
He said that afternoons following school would pass playing games, with Chheda "destroying" him all the time.
A photo of McCutcheon Hall on Purdue University campus, on Wednesday, Oct. 5, 2022, in West Lafayette, Indiana. (Alex Martin/Journal and Courier / USA TODAY NETWORK)
Wu said Chheda was still close with the friends he had in high school and a good sport, whether it was the Science Bowl or a round of Magic: The Gathering.
"We kept in touch in college and, for real I mean that," Wu said. "Most nights we'd hang out – him, me, some other friends from high school… We'd like to play a bunch of board games, a bunch of card games for hours every single day," Wu, of Carmel, Indiana, said.
Wu plans to attend a memorial service this weekend.
He said that people had been reaching out following Chheda's death.
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"He obviously touched a lot of people," he said.
"Most people like that never expect anything like this to happen. So, lots of people have just been talking to me in shock. You just can't believe that something like this is possible."
Fox News' Adam Sabes and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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