Two people, including a longtime Oberlin College professor, were found dead from multiple gunshot wounds in a Lorain County home on Wednesday morning, according to reports from KWQC and Lorain Daily. Police have taken a 31-year-old man from Ashland, Oregon, into custody in connection with the deaths, which authorities believe were domestic in nature.
The victims have been identified as a 64-year-old man and a 47-year-old woman. Oberlin College later confirmed that one of the deceased was Pipo Nguyen-Duy, a professor of studio art and photography who had taught at the institution since 1998. The tragedy devastated the campus community, where college leadership described Nguyen-Duy as a beloved figure whose passion for photography touched many.
A smoking vehicle leads to a double homicide
The sequence of events began around 8:57 a.m. on October 28, when officers responded to a call at the Oberlin College Conservatory parking lot. According to a media release cited by Lorain Daily, police were assisting firefighters with a vehicle that was smoking and potentially on fire. When officers attempted to locate the registered owner of that vehicle to check on his welfare, the investigation shifted from a traffic incident to a manhunt.
Police eventually located the suspect, Daniel Jones, in the 200 block of Shipherd Circle at approximately 10:19 a.m. Jones was taken into custody without incident. Just nine minutes after the arrest, officers arrived at a residence at 33 South Pleasant Street to check on the welfare of Jones’ family. It was there they discovered the victims: the man on the first floor and the woman on the second floor, both suffering from multiple gunshot wounds.
The sudden nature of the discovery prompted a shelter-in-place order for the nearby campus. This order was lifted shortly after police confirmed that there was no ongoing danger to the students or the broader community.
The human toll at Oberlin College
Pipo Nguyen-Duy’s tenure at the college spanned nearly three decades, making him a cornerstone of the photography program.
“Pipo was beloved. During his years at Oberlin, he touched all of us through his passion for photography,” President Ambar wrote in a message to the campus.
The college has since deployed counseling and support services to help students and faculty process the violence.
Multiple agencies investigate South Pleasant Street homicide
While the Oberlin Police Department is leading the investigation, the response involved multiple agencies. Sheriff Jack Hall told Lorain Daily that his office assisted with the search for the suspect and the processing of the vehicle used in the incident.
An October 28 media release classified the incident as a homicide, though specific charges are still listed as pending. The investigation is currently focused on processing the residence on South Pleasant Street and the location where the vehicle was recovered, with those areas remaining blocked to traffic.
The “domestic nature” of the crime, as described by police, suggests a level of intimacy between the suspect and the victims, though authorities have not yet explicitly detailed the exact relationship between Jones and the deceased.
