Who Is James Eric Davis Jr? Suspected CMU Shooter Now In Custody

Update: Saturday, 1:20 a.m. EST — Central Michigan University announced at 12:50 a.m., Saturday, that James Eric Davis Jr., the suspect who shot and killed his parents inside the campus, was caught and placed under custody.

The police was tipped off by an individual who spotted Davis Jr. “on a train passing through the north end of campus shortly after midnight.” Law enforcement officers arrived at the scene and the suspect was taken into custody without any incident.

CMU President George E. Ross thanked the police and the people of the community who worked in harmony to apprehend the suspect.

Original Story:

The suspect identified in the Central Michigan University (CMU) shooting on Friday is sophomore student James Eric Davis Jr.

Davis Jr. is believed to have shot and killed his parents — father, James Eric Davis Sr., 48, a part-time police officer in Bellwood, Illinois, since 1999 and mother, Diva Jeneen Davis, 47 — and fled from the scene.

He was described by the CMU Police as a 5-foot-10 African-American man, weighing around 135 pounds. He was last seen wearing mustard-colored jeans and a blue hoodie and is believed to be armed and dangerous, Lansing State Journal reported.

Davis Jr. had contact with the police on Thursday relating to a possible drug interaction or overdose, prior to the shooting. The police took him to McLaren Central Michigan hospital in Mount Pleasant, Michigan and handed him over to the medical staff.

He was discharged from the hospital Friday morning, according to Lt. Larry Klaus of the CMU Police Department. After that, Mount Pleasant information officer Jeff Browne spotted him heading north from the dorm, running along the railroad tracks.

The shooting took place on the fourth floor of the dorm at 8:30 a.m. EST. His parents might have been picking up their son before spring break, according to Bellwood Mayor Andre Harvey.

The bodies of Davis Sr. and his wife were discovered in the residence hall, which forms part of the fourth floor. "We're calling it a family-type domestic issue at this point," Klaus said, during a press conference, CNN reported.

Friends and teachers who knew the suspect personally, said they could not imagine he was capable of such a crime.

Kendall Gilder, who has been friends with Davis Jr. since they met in the fourth grade at Charles Reed Elementary School in Joliet, Illinois, said he was still reeling from the news of the incident.

"James has always been a good kid," Gilder said. "This was not something that was ever to be expected and, even at this moment, I can’t bring myself to believe it."

Steve Lamberti, the humanities division chair at Plainfield Central and the former coach of the boy’s basketball team, knew Davis Jr. from the time he coached him in senior year.

“He was a typical high school kid,” he said. “No problems at all.”

Davis Jr.’s father was described as a pillar of the community and beloved by his friends and neighbors. He and his wife were called dotting parents by multiple people who were well acquainted with the family.

Deantre DeYoung, who knew Davis Jr. during their freshman year at Plainfield South High School, said his parents "were loving and caring about him, and they were always on top of what he did school-wise. Whatever situation went down between them, it has to be more than him being a bad person because, as a family, they loved each other. I know that for certain."

Jordan Murphy, who worked alongside Davis Sr. for several years as recruiters in the Illinois Army National Guard, described his colleague and his wife as "loving, ever present parents, who doted on their children."