Norfolk, Va. – Two people have been arrested after an ODU student died Sunday after an attack near campus.
Police say Paul Johnson, 20, was hit in the head around 1 a.m. Sunday while walking in the 1000 block of W. 48th Street. He was a block from his apartment when he was attacked.
The suspects, David Grimm Jr., 21, and Christopher Johnson, 20, have both been arrested.
Johnson turned himself in to the Norfolk Police Department and has been charged with misdemeanor assault. He was released around 4:30 a.m. Monday morning on a $1,500 secured bond.
Grimm was arrested by the Prince William County Police Department and is being charged with 2nd degree murder. He is currently going through the booking process.
Family told NewsChannel 3 that Paul Johnson was a sophomore at ODU majoring in mathematics. He was from a family of six boys in Richmond. He was the third from the oldest.
After the attack, police say he was rushed to Sentara Norfolk General Hospital, but died at 2:26 p.m.
A Medical Examiner has announced that his cause of death was blunt force trauma to the head.
Workers said the cameras at 7-Eleven nearby were not rolling, but at The Edge Nightclub they were. The manager at The Edge, Zach Cannon, believes some of the attackers were caught on tape. He says they gave detectives a copy.
“We have outside cameras and after the attack some of the assailants ran through our back parking lot so they wanted to look at some of our footage,” said Cannon.
ODU sent an alert out about the attack around 4:20 a.m.
It is the seventh alert students have received because of violence near campus this school year. Arrests have only been made in one of the cases.
Many students are calling for increased patrols, and say that perhaps this most tragedy will finally get results.
ODU’s President John Broderick sent an email to the campus community Sunday. It said in part, "We are all outraged by this senseless tragedy and I know you join me in sending your heartfelt condolences to Paul`s family and friends…earlier today, I and members of the university administration met with the Norfolk City Manager and Chief of Police, who promised to devote additional police resources to this investigation and to engage in further dialogue with the university community about safety issues and concerns."
Anyone with information about the assault or who was in the area is being asked to contact the Crimeline at 1-888-LOCK-U-UP or the ODU police department at 757-683-4000.
ODU President John R. Broderick released a statement on Monday afternoon regarding Johnson's death:
“Words cannot express our shock and grief at the senseless loss of ODU student Paul Johnson. Such violence has no place in education, and the Old Dominion community will not tolerate it. I am extremely grateful to the Norfolk Police, and their joint investigative efforts with ODU Police that led to the quick arrests of two suspects. I also want to acknowledge the many students who provided information and assistance to the investigation. Our work, however, does not and will not end here. The City of Norfolk and Old Dominion have pledged to work with the campus and neighboring communities to address issues of concern.”
