Republished September 16, 2020 - 1:42 PM
Original Publication Date September 16, 2020 - 8:56 AM
CHICAGO - A Western Illinois University student suspected of shooting and wounding his roommate in their dorm room, prompting the school to cancel classes, turned himself into police on Wednesday afternoon, school officials said.
The shooting occurred in a room at Thompson Hall on the Macomb campus at about 10:30 p.m. Tuesday, stemming from what officials said was a dispute between the two roommates.
In a news release, the university said that 18-year-old Kavion Poplous turned himself in at a Chicago Police Department station and was then taken into custody by the FBI. Hours earlier, the school announced that an arrest warrant had been issued for Poplous on charges of first-degree attempted murder, aggravated battery and aggravated discharge of a firearm.
At the time, the school said that Poplous was considered “armed and dangerous,” but officials did not say whether a firearm was recovered when Poplous turned himself in.
In additional to cancelling classes at the university’s main campus in Macomb as well as the the nearby campus in Moline, the school had locked down all buildings.
With the arrest of Poplous, the school said that classes will resume on Thursday. But the school said that the residence halls would remain locked through the weekend to protect students’ privacy.
The wounded roommate, who has not been identified by the school, was taken to McDonough District Hospital in Macomb before he was transferred to another hospital. The student underwent surgery, but the school has declined to comment on his condition.
News from © The Associated Press, 2020