Knife fight suspects arrested

The 20-year-old male student who suffered knife wounds after being slashed Sunday morning was treated and released from IU Health Bloomington later that day, said Associate Vice President of IU Communications Mark Land.

IU Police Department arrested IU student Zesen Shen, 18, for intimidation and battery, and Kaiyu Luo, 21, for intimidation following the dispute at Tulip Tree Apartments.

The two students were involved in a fight against a third student that began at about 3:30 a.m. Sunday in the parking lot at Tulip Tree Apartments on East 10th Street. The fight resulted in the third student suffering a knife wound, Land said.

The victim had returned from an off-campus party earlier with a woman in his car, and got into an argument with Shen and Luo over the woman,  IUPD Lt. Craig Munroe said.

Shen, a Wright Quad resident, and Luo allegedly agreed to meet with the victim in the parking lot to “reconcile” the dispute, Munroe said.

“But that’s not what actually occurred,” Munroe said.

Shen and Luo began to chase after the victim in the parking lot. Shen allegedly slashed the student with the knife as the student was moving away from him, Land said.

A witness at the scene called 911, saying a man was chasing his friend with a knife, and IUPD responded, Munroe said.

Witnesses said at least 10 police cars and at least one fire truck arrived at Tulip Tree Apartments.

The injured student was taken to IU Health Bloomington Hospital with non-life-threatening wounds.

“The wound was longer than it was deep,” Land said. “It was a few inches long.”

After speaking with witnesses in the parking lot and investigating the scene, police officers were informed the suspects could be inside the apartment building.

Luo and Shen were found in a Tulip Tree apartment with four other students early Sunday morning, and IUPD brought the entire group to the police station for questioning.

Officers arrested Shen without incident at about 8 a.m., and Luo was arrested about two hours later, Land said.

IUPD initially announced Luo’s arrest shortly after 10 a.m., but incorrectly spelled his name as Kaiyu Lao. The correction was made at about 5:30 p.m. Sunday.

None of the other four students in the group are suspects, Munroe said. One student was arrested for underage consumption of alcohol, and it was clear that the group had been drinking, he said.

The University sent alert phone calls and emails to all IU students at 4 a.m., informing them that police were in search of armed suspects.

IUPD officers put Tulip Tree Apartments on lock-down after the fight.

Junior Jay Ahn, a resident of Tulip Tree Apartments, said he had just returned home to the apartment complex between 3:30 and 4 a.m. Sunday. Officers had locked the doors and prohibited any individuals from entering or leaving the apartment complex.

Ahn and his friends had to stay outside the building until about 4:30 a.m. He said about 30 students were stuck in the building entrance, unable to enter the doors into the main lobby.

Sophomore Ernest Fipps watched the investigation unfold from his apartment window on the sixth floor of Tulip Tree Apartments.

He said he had seen a group of six or seven people “messing around” in the parking lot before police cars began showing up. He could hear officers shouting and saw police cars leave shortly after 5 a.m.

The all-clear was alerted to students at about 7:30 a.m.

Both of the suspects were international students from China, Munroe said.

International students are treated just like any other suspects of criminal charges, IUPD Sgt. Brice Teter said.

Under federal law, officers were obligated to send a notification of the arrests to the Chinese consulate, Teter said.

Both Shen and Luo remained in jail Sunday evening. IUPD continues to investigate the incident.

A campus-wide lock-down was difficult because of the many doors and points of entry across the University, Land said, but he encouraged all students to stay inside while the investigation took place.

Land said campus residence halls were completely locked down, and Residential Programs and Services officials ensured all doors remained locked during the search period.

Follow reporter Samantha Schmidt on Twitter @schmidtsam7.