A jury that is to hear the case of an Indian-American man charged with murder and terrorism in the shooting death of an Ohio University graduate student two years ago has surveyed the scene of the crime.
The Weatherhead School of Management of the Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio was closed on Monday to enable the jury to survey the scene of the attack that had also left a faculty member and another student injured.
65-year-old Biswanath Halder, a native of Kolkata, has been charged with 338 felony counts, including aggravated murder and terrorism, and could get the death penalty if convicted. He did not accompany the jury as it surveyed the scene.
Halder graduated from Case Western with a Master's degree in business administration and is accused in the killing of Norman Wallace inside the school premises on May 9, 2003. Authorities alleged that Halder started shooting as he entered the hallways of the business school.
Witnesses were quoted in the media as saying that they saw a gunman in body armour, a wig and an army helmet carrying two semi-automatic weapons. The seven-hour siege ended with Halder shot and captured in the fifth floor of the premises.
Nearly 140 persons are said to have been held hostage during the standoff.
Prosecutors claimed Halder targeted the school because he thought a computer lab employee had hacked into his website.
Halder is a naturalised US citizen, who emigrated from India as a 28-year-old in 1969 and became a citizen 11 years later.
