FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WANE) – Fort Wayne Police are investigating Tuesday after an officer shot and killed a man wanted in DeKalb County. The suspect was found on the campus of Purdue University Fort Wayne.
Just after 7:15 a.m., DeKalb County Community Corrections asked FWPD to help find a man who got out of their custody, FWPD’s Chief of Police Scott Caudill said in an update later that morning. The man was believed to be armed with a handgun at a nearby apartment complex.
Caudill said police found the suspect walking on PFW’s campus towards a parking lot near the entrance off Coliseum and North Anthony boulevards.
The man didn’t respond to commands from police, and officers saw that he had a gun, Caudill said. Just after 7:45 a.m., officers told dispatch shots had been fired and the suspect had been shot.
The man was pronounced dead at the scene. He has not yet been identified. A spokesperson for the university told WANE 15 the situation didn’t appear to involve anyone affiliated with either Purdue or Indiana University.
The FWPD officer involved was not hurt, Caudill said.
The university sent out an alert to students and staff to avoid the area west of Kettler Hall, between Kettler and the St. Joe River.
There’s no longer a threat to public safety, said Caudill, who made the call for campus to be shut down Tuesday. The university planned to reopen Wednesday.
The shooting is still being investigated by FWPD, with independent investigations by Indiana State Police, PFW’s campus police, and the county coroner and prosecutor’s offices.
