By Ellin Youse
Editor-in-Chief
The Delaware Police Department (DPD) arrested Nicholas Corey Lee Eber, 23, of Delaware, OH on charges of attempted murder and felonious assault against senior Anthony Peddle.
Eber is suspected to have stabbed Peddle the morning of Saturday, May 3.Peddle was asleep in his bedroom at the Chi Phi Fraternity house on 216 N. Franklin St. when attacked.
The arrest follows the warrant DPD received Monday for Eber’s electronic devices. Although the Transcript had access to Eber’s identity, his identity was protected as he was not yet identified as a suspect in the case. According to the warrant, Eber received a ride to the fraternity house from an Ohio Wesleyan University student. The student was compliant in working with DPD and has no further affiliation with the case.
In an email to the OWU community, President Rock Jones expressed his appreciation for the Delaware Police Department.
“I am pleased to share with you the announcement from the Delaware Police that they have made an arrest in the case of the stabbing incident last weekend,” he said. “Our records show that the person arrested, Nicholas Eber, has never been associated with Ohio Wesleyan University.”
Director of Public Safety Robert Wood said OWU Public Safety worked closely with DPD on the case as well as to ensure the safety of students on campus. Wood said the details of the added protection cannot be disclosed for security reasons.
“We have protocols and when events of this kind happen, we always look how and if we can add any additional security,” Wood said. “We have been in very close contact with DPD- several times a day, every day. We’ve been so fortunate to work with them, they have been working on this 24 hours a day since the attack.They have been instrumental in this process”
Wood confirmed Eber was consistently suspected to have no affiliation to the university.
“All our indications were that this person was not connected to the university.”
Peddle is the president of the senior class, and Director of Media and Community Relations, Cole Hatcher, confirmed to the Transcript on Tuesday that Peddle will be speaking at Sunday’s commencement ceremony.
Senior class Vice President, Aara Ramesh, said on Monday that she was confident an arrest would be made soon.
“It was really jarring to me to learn that this attack was not randomized, but rather a targeted one,” she said. “I am positive that the perpetrator will be caught and a suitable punishment will be doled out.”
Chi Phi president TJ Clark said Peddle asked the members not to discuss information about the case to the media.