Cousins is accused of killing Andrew F. Boldt, 21, West Bend, Wis., and a teaching assistant at the university, about noon Tuesday in a basement classroom of the Electrical Engineering building on the Purdue campus.
Cousins previously had one case in Tippecanoe County courts, a 2012 public intoxication charge dropped in January 2013 after he paid $379 and completed a year without violating terms of a diversion plea, according to court records.
Cousins had no record in Warren or Montgomery counties, according to records checks and juvenile authorities.
In one brush with police, a Clearcreek Twp. police officer sent Cousins and another juvenile “on their way” in October 2007 after neighbors reported a suspicious car parked at the dead end of a township road near his home, according to an incident report.
On Tuesday, Cousins, a senior at Purdue, allegedly shot Boldt and then fired four or five more shots before he was taken into custody, according to police.
On Wednesday, Boldt’s family expressed thanks for well wishes and offers of help, but asked for privacy.
“All of the offerings to bring food and to assist are very kind, and the family feels the love of this community for them,” according to Father Nathan Reesmanon, senior pastor of the Saint Frances Cabrini Parish. “For the moment their request is simply that we pray.”
While authorities have identified no motive, Boldt, a graduate of Marquette University High School in West Bend, Wisc., was targeted by Cousins, according to reports.
At the time of his graduation from Springboro High, Cousins lived in the Glenridge development in Clearcreek Twp. in northern Warren County.
His mother, Dr. Wendy F. Melancon, a Wright State University graduate, once served as clinical operations coordinator of the Counseling Center at the university and as director of the Preble County office of the Good Samaritan Hospital Counseling and Treatment Centers. She is currently assistant county director/psychologist at The Bowen Center in Warsaw, Ind.
Melancon and Cousins’ father, Ernest, purchased the home at 9307 Maxwell’s Crossing in the Glenridge development in Clearcreek Twp. in January 2007, but lost it through foreclosure in 2009, according to property records. They also faced foreclosure while living on Ashworth Drive in Vandalia, records show.
Cousins’ parents could not be reached for comment.
On social media, Cousins’ friends expressed shock about the shooting.
Jen Blue, a friend who graduated with Cousins from Springboro, posted on Facebook, “I think I can attest more than anyone that this is not who Cody is, and it absolutely breaks my heart to think of what he could have been going through to push him to do this. I feel like a piece of me just died. He and his family need support now more than ever. My heart is there with both him and his victim.”
Karen Natale, a former Clearcreek Twp. neighbor,said Cousins once fixed one of her family’s personal computers.
“He took it apart and made it work again,” Natale said. “I just can’t get over the shock.”
WHIO TV Reporter Layron Livingston contributed to this report.
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