Father's Gun Used By Campus Shooting Suspect From Plainfield: CMU

MOUNT PLEASANT, MI — Central Michigan University police on Saturday said a 19-year-old Plainfield Central High School graduate used his police officer father's gun to kill his parents. James Eric Davis Jr., was taken into custody just after midnight after a person on a train on the CMU campus spotted him and notified police. Davis was apprehended after a daylong manhunt, nearly 16 hours after police say he shot his parents Friday morning in a dorm on the CMU campus.

According to a campus alert, law enforcement took the teen into custody without incident. CMU Police Chief Bill Yeagley said an employee on the train spotted a person standing near the railroad tracks. "(The witness) found that suspicious, called us," Yeagley said, adding that CMU police arrived on the scene within two minutes and immediately took Davis into custody.

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CMU police on Friday identified the victims as Davis' parents, James Eric Davis Sr. and Diva Jeneen Davis, who reportedly arrived on campus Friday to pick him up for spring break. Plainfield Community Consolidated School District 202 confirmed that Davis attended Plainfield South High School for three years before attending Plainfield Central for his senior year.

During a press conference on Saturday, Yeagley said the gun used in the double murder belonged to James Davis Sr., a police officer in suburban Cook County.

How the crime unfolded

Yeagley outlined the timeline leading up to the double murder, saying CMU police first came into contact with the younger Davis at around 9:45 p.m. Thursday. The teen ran into a community policing office in the dorms and appeared "very frightened," telling officers he was fearful of someone he believed meant to harm him. Yeagley said Davis claimed that person had a gun and a warrant out for his arrest in a murder. He spoke of an encounter he reportedly had with the person in an elevator, according to police.

Police said Davis was "not making a lot of sense" and made vague statements but could not say for certain whether he had seen a gun, telling police, "It's just a feeling, I just know it," Yeagley said. Police spoke with the person in question and found no evidence of a weapon or any kind of threat, according to Yeagley, who said surveillance video of the elevator encounter showed Davis and the other person laughing and no sign of any danger.

Yeagley said police explained to Davis that they had found no evidence of a crime and Davis said he understood, that he was OK and was going home to Plainfield in the morning. But several hours later, at around 1:15 a.m. Friday, Yeagley said, officers again saw Davis in a dorm hallway with suitcases and bags as if he were leaving.

Yeagley said the officer, knowing Davis wasn't expected to go home until the morning, asked him if he was OK. Police said Davis again responded incoherently, so the officer asked him to call his parents, according to police. Yeagley said the teen complied, calling his parents and allowing the officer to speak with them on the phone.

The officer reportedly told Davis' mother he was concerned, adding that he believed drugs may have played a role in the teen's bizarre behavior, a fear that Diva Davis shared, Yeagley said. The Plainfield mother reportedly told police that she and her husband were leaving immediately to come get their son.

Yeagley said police took Davis to a hospital near campus. Police on Friday said the 19-year-old was released in the morning, prior to the shooting.

On Friday, a witness reported seeing Davis coming from the parking lot to a student dorm known as Campbell Hall with a gun in his hand. Yeagley said surveillance video also showed the teen walking towards the dorm with a gun.

Yeagley said police believe Davis then went to the fourth floor, where he shot and killed his father, then his mother, before fleeing on foot. A gun was recovered from the scene, according to police, who said the weapon used in the killings belonged to James Eric Davis Sr.

Witness reports and surveillance footage show Davis heading north along the railroad tracks on campus. The campus was locked down during a manhunt for the teen, with all events and activities cancelled on Friday, as well as the cancellation of Sunday classes. Police told students and community members not to approach Davis if they spotted him, saying he was considered armed and dangerous.

It wasn't until nearly 16 hours after the shootings that police received the call about a person spotted near the railroad tracks. Yeagley expressed gratitude to the witness who notified authorities. "They saw something, they said something," he said Saturday morning, adding, "The danger that our community has experienced over the last 24 hours is now over."

Suspected gunman attended Plainfield schools

District 202 Director of Community Relations Tom Hernandez confirmed that James E. Davis Jr. attended Plainfield South High School for three years before attending Plainfield Central during his senior year, graduating in 2016. Hernandez said he declined to comment further out of respect for Davis' family.

Acting Bellwood Police Chief Jiminez Allen confirmed that James E. Davis Sr. was a part-time Bellwood police officer. Rep. Emanuel "Chris" Welch, a Democrat who represents Bellwood and several other Cook County communities, tweeted his condolences to the Davis family.

Reaction in Plainfield

Plainfield Central social studies department chairman Steve Lamberti described Davis as quiet, polite and "no problem at all," according to the Lansing State Journal. Davis reportedly played on the PCHS basketball team during his senior year, with Lamberti as his coach.

Former Plainfield students who said they know Davis took to Twitter, with some defending the teen and expressing anger at the reaction on social media.

"This really shows that you guys see headlines and think you know the person and have the most ignorant stuff to say," said one friend, adding in another tweet, "For everyone who really knows James we know this isn’t adding up. It doesn’t make sense."

Using the hashtag "PrayForJames," a Twitter user posted a video saying Davis lived across the street from him, showing the home on camera and expressing disbelief. "Anybody who knows James, he ain't no thug," the man said in the post. "He's one of the most peaceful, low-key dudes I've ever met ... We'll just continue to pray for him and pray for his family."

Photos: Image of James Eric Davis Jr. via City of Mount Pleasant/Michigan police official walks on the train tracks as police continue to search for a suspect near Central Michigan University on March 2, 2018 in Mount Pleasant, Michigan. (Photo by Rachel Woolf/Getty Images News/Getty Images)