A manhunt is still underway for a shooter who killed two people today on the campus of Central Michigan University.
The shooter is 19-year old James Davis Jr., the two victims are his parents.
Lieutenant Larry Klaus is with the Central Michigan University Police Department. He says university police interacted with Davis on Thursday night.
“At some point in the evening, he was transported to MidMichigan Medical Center due to what the officers believed may be a drug-related incident - an overdose or a bad reaction to drugs.”
The shooting occurred sometime after Davis’ release from the medical center.
Students were locked down in dorms and classrooms across campus after news of the shooting broke, waiting for police to escort them off campus.
The University directed parents - many of whom were on the way to pick up their children for spring break - to a local hotel to wait.
Lisa Tolbert drove from Southfield, Michigan after getting a call from her daughter.
“Found out this was happening, my daughter was crying and really scared, drove two hours and I’m here now.”
At a press conference later that day Governor Rick Snyder said university officials responded quickly to the shooting. Snyder briefly connected the campus shooting to shootings across the country.
“I’m sure people are going to ask how this relates to everything else, and how we can do more to help protect our students and our staff. This will be an ongoing dialogue, we won’t have all the answers today, what I can tell you is there is a commitment to do what’s right.”
CMU President George Ross was also in attendance at the press conference and was asked if the shooting could lead to changes in the safety procedures on the university campus - which is gun free.
“Today we’re dealing with the incident. We’re dealing with the safety of our students and faculty and staff who are still on this campus. There are always opportunities to learn but we will dissect this and review this after the fact. But today we’re about families.”
Friends of Davis say they were surprised to see he was involved in the shooting.
Caleb Kleinman is a CMU sophomore and a friend Davis.
“It was something that as soon as we saw his name associated with this we were all brought to a shock. There were no signs at all within the time I’ve known him, no signs anywhere within that time that this would be a situation that would include him.”
The University has canceled all campus events for Saturday.
Police advise anyone who sees Davis call 9-1-1.