Hanover College shuts down

HANOVER, Ind. -- Most of Hanover College's students left the campus Tuesday as officials called off classes for fear that a teenager suspected of killing his parents might come in search of his brother, who is a student at the school.\nHanover officials made the decision Tuesday morning as Kentucky State Police continued their search for 16-year-old Blake P. Walker, who is wanted on two counts of murder.\nBy late afternoon, about 75 percent of the school's 1,000 students had left the campus, Hanover spokesman Alan Clark said.\nHanover junior Liz Housholder, of Kendallville, woke up after a night of studying for finals to the news that classes had been canceled.\n"I went to bed late and our sorority president woke me up and said 'check your e-mail. Finals are canceled,'" she said. "Everyone was like frantic trying to pack up all their things and get out as soon as possible."\nDespite canceled tests, Housholder said it was hard to be happy about the situation.\n"Under the circumstances you think about how horrible the situation is for that student," she said.\nPolice said Barbara Peterson and Brian Walker were found Monday each shot multiple times with a handgun in their home about 100 miles away from Hanover in the southern Kentucky town of Knifley.\nInvestigators believe Walker acted alone in the shootings that apparently happened Sunday afternoon.\nClark said Walker's brother, Hanover sophomore Manning Walker, had been removed from campus for his safety. The school has gotten primarily a positive response to its decision to cancel classes, Clark said.\n"We have received some e-mails from parents back to us thanking us for doing this and saying they felt it was the best decision to make," he said. "The strongest response we've heard from students is primarily concern for their fellow student and his situation."\nKentucky State Police were planning to interview Walker's brother, Trooper Dwaine Barnett said.\nA state police helicopter was assisting in the search for Walker's vehicle. A vehicle similar to a description of Walker's was seen in Adair County in southern Kentucky, but police were not confirming if it was his.\nSecurity was tightened at the liberal arts college near the Ohio River about 40 miles northeast of\nLouisville, Ky.\nHanover security Officer Debbie Krogen said guards were at each entrance to campus and all cars were being stopped.\nKrogen said people coming to campus and students were being cooperative.\nCampus buildings were open Tuesday, but Clark said school officials are taking extra security precautions and might reschedule public events set to take place on campus this week.\nStudents and staff were notified of the closure through campus e-mail and dorm personnel.\nClark said students who could not immediately find transportation home and foreign students who planned to remain on campus through the semester break were being allowed to stay.\nThe school had three days remaining in the semester, and Clark said professors would decide when classes resume in January whether finals would be rescheduled.\nAbout 85 percent of Hanover's students come from Indiana, Kentucky or Ohio, he said.