Police in Campbellsville, Ky., have arrested a 21-year-old man wanted in connection with the shooting death of a Campbellsville student on Saturday, officials said.
The student, Josiah Malachi Kilman, 18, was found unresponsive in his dorm room around 12:43 a.m. and was taken to Taylor Regional Hospital, where he was pronounced dead, police said in a statement.
Police identified the man they arrested as Charles E. Escalera, 21. Officials said they had obtained a warrant for his arrest, charging him with murder.
The university, which confirmed Mr Escalera’s arrest on Saturday night, said he was a student.
Campbellsville police said in a statement that Mr. Escalera was taken into custody after the Green County Sheriff’s Office and Kentucky State Police “received a call of a suspicious male inside a barn.” State Police responded to the call and arrested Mr. Escalera.
Details of what led to Mr Kilman’s death were not available.
John D. Bertram, the Taylor County district attorney, said in an interview Saturday night that he believed Mr. Escalera and Mr. Kilman knew each other, but “I don’t know of any history between them.”
Video surveillance helped authorities identify Mr. Escalera as a person of interest, he said.
Calling the case “very unusual”, Mr Bertram said he was not aware of “something like this happening on campus, and it’s a relatively small campus”.
Joseph Hopkins, president of Campbellsville University, said in a statement that the university “mourns the loss of one of our family.”
“We lost a student and our hearts are broken,” he said. “During this devastating time, the continued safety of our students and the residents of our community is our primary concern. In consultation with local law enforcement, we will continue to implement every measure necessary to protect and support our students and community.”
Campbellsville University is a Christian university with a main campus of more than 100 acres, 85 miles southeast of Louisville, Ky. It has an enrollment of approximately 12,000 students.
Mr. Kilman’s death was the third fatal violence involving students since February 16.
A University of Colorado student was arrested Monday on a murder charge in connection with the fatal shooting of two people, including his roommate. And on Friday, authorities in Georgia arrested a 26-year-old man in the slaying of an Augusta University student whose body was found in a wooded area at the University of Georgia in Athens.
Rebecca Carballo contributed to the report.
