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Friday night apartment shooting leaves community with unanswered questions
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Then-Sen. Barack Obama holds an "Obama 08" Michigan State jersey given to him at the Barack Obama rally in Adams Field on Oct. 2, 2008.
OBAMA PLANS EAST LANSING STOP, FEW DETAILS AVAILABLE By Simon Schuster sschuster@statenews.com THE STATE NEWS nn
photos by Danyelle Morrow/The State News
Political science senior Chris McClain, right, holds a candle during a moment of silence at a candlelight vigil held for hospitality business sophomore Dominique Nolff Sunday on Waters Edge Drive. Nolff died following a shooting Friday.
By Staff reports THE STATE NEWS nn
It was the shot that no one heard. At 8:48 p.m. Friday evening, police responded to the report of a shooting on the 200 block of Cedar Street. They arrived to find two students in their apartment: one had suffered a single gunshot wound, and the other had several, although police will not say how many. The gunman was gone, vanished into the night. He has yet to be found. One student was released from Sparrow Hospital early Saturday morning. The other never left. At 9:23 a.m. Saturday, hospitality business sophomore Dominique “D.J.” Nolff was pronounced dead, after remaining in critical condition throughout the night. He was 20 years old. The circumstances surrounding Nolff’s death remain largely unknown, including the biggest two questions — who killed him and why. The aftermath In the days since the shooting, students and officials alike still are trying to make sense of what happened. For many, the occurrence left them feeling unsafe in the area. Theatre sophomore Kendall Kotcher said the situation made her realize how much students often take their own safety both on and off campus for granted.
East Lansing police officers stand in front of apartment complexes on the 200 block of Cedar Street on Friday after the shooting of hospitality business sophomore Dominique Nolff.
“I was stunned,” Kotcher said. “I’ve always felt safe, on and even around campus. “You tend to think these things wont happen to you, but when the proximity is so close, it really shakes you up.” Several neighbors, both in the Cedar Street apartment itself and other buildings surrounding it, said they did not hear a gunshot or see anything suspicious. Ma ny were completely unaware of the situation until they received a university alert a more than two hours later. Economics junior Raunak Nav-
alakha, who lives across the hall from the apartment where the shooting occurred, said he was asleep and did not hear anything at the time. He said he did not wake up until after shots were fired. One neighbor, who declined to give his name because the suspect still is at large, said he often overheard disagreements from within the apartment where the shooting took place. East Lansing police said they do not believe the incident was random. For now, all other details are secret or unknown.
In memory To celebrate Nolff’s memory, MSU’s Black Student Alliance gathered Sunday afternoon for a candlelight vigil. About 20 students and friends of Nolff formed a circle on Waters Edge Drive and lit candles to remember and commemorate Nolff’s life. Some spoke on behalf of Nolff’s memory, while others who did not know him shared their condolences with his loved ones. See SHOOTING on page 2 u
W hen President Barack Obama last visited East Lansing in 2008, it was a month before he was first elected president. On Friday, he’ll return as a president with one term under his belt who is looking to secure his legacy as he enters his final three years in the Oval Office. Obama is coming to East Lansing for an event about the economy on Friday, according to multiple media outlets citing an unnamed White House official. Little else is known about the event. Both MSU and East Lansing officials said they had not received any information about the president’s visit during the weekend. White House officials told several media outlets more details on the scheduled visit would be announced early this week. East Lansing Mayor Nathan Triplett said he was excited to find out about the scheduled visit from the nation’s leader. “Obviously we’re honored and ecstatic to be hosting the president in East Lansing,” Triplett said. “I think it’s only fitting that he chose Michigan for an address focusing on the economy given how much the state benefitted from the economic policies.” Obama last visited Michigan during a trip to the Detroit Diesel plant in Redford Township in 2012, where he met with hundreds of factory employees. In 2012, MSU College Democrats registered more than 5,000 students to vote in their effort to re-elect Obama, said Rawley Van Fossen, the organization’s president. Van Fossen said he hopes Obama will speak about investment in higher education during his East Lansing visit. “We need a skilled workforce
for the United States to move forward,” Van Fossen said. “I think that investing in higher education, especially higher public education, proves to be a genuine investment for the tax-paying citizens of this country.” Van Fossen said he thinks MSU’s planned Facility for Rare Isotope Beams, also known as FRIB, might be what’s bringing Obama to East Lansing.
FRIB and Michigan’s improved economy could be reasons for visit, according to student political leaders The project, which would add to the university’s research in nuclear science, is set to receive $55 million in funding for its 2014 operations, and the U.S. Department of Energy approved $635.5 million in federal funding in Aug. 2013. The project is set to be completed in 2022. MSU College Republicans Vice Chair Tori Whiting said the president’s decision to hold an event in East Lansing was “a privilege and a wonderful thing” for the MSU and East Lansing community. Whiting said the visit should be recognition of Michigan’s significant economic improvements made during Gov. Rick Snyder’s administration. “I really hope that he shows a lot of support for what the Snyder administration is doing right now in Michigan,” Whiting said. The economy was the cornerstone of Obama’s State of the Union address last week. The speech examined a broad range of issues, including an initiative to bring the federal minimum wage to $10.10, gender-based pay inequality and extending long-term relief to the unemployed. But the president also took See OBAMA on page 2 u
Friends remember Dominique Nolff as selfless By Geoff Preston gpreston@statenews.com THE STATE NEWS nn
One word continues to come up in conjunction with hospitality business sophomore Dominique, or “D. J.,” Nolff as his friends remember the type of person he was. Selfless. “He’d give you the clothes Nolff off his back if you were in need,” friend and neuroscience sophomore Herve Nonga said. Nolff died early Saturday morning in Sparrow Hospital in Lansing from several gun-
shot wounds he sustained Friday night. He was shot in his apartment in the 200 block of Cedar Street around 8:45 p.m. The incident is still under investigation by the East Lansing Police Department, and the killer still is at large. Another student, a 20-year-old male from Grand Haven, was shot and sustained injuries in the incident as well.
Nolff was one of two students shot during an altercation on Cedar Street — the suspect is still at large He was treated for his injuries at the hospital and was lat-
“Dom was a very good person. ... He was always happy. I would never wish death on anybody. I wish it didn’t have to be him.” Calvon Sheridan, friend of Dominique Nolff
er released. He declined comment when contacted by The State News. Nolff valued his family immensely, friends say. He had a large one that included a younger brother who looked up to him as a role model. When it came to his circle of friends, Nolff made each person feel like family as well. “He was like a brother to me,” said Nonga, who lived with him in Butterfield Hall last year. “We had a bond that I felt like couldn’t be broken.
“I thought we were going to take this friendship into the future. You always expect him to be there.” Nolff ’s family members were not immediately available for comment after several requests from The State News for interviews. Friends remember him as someone who had clear goals and worked hard to achieve them. “He was really hardworking,” friend and finance sophomore Adam Boudjemai said. “He never let anything get in the way of
his goals.” Boudjemai, who lived a few doors down from Nolff in Butterfield Hall during their freshman year, fondly remembered the times he spent hanging out with him. He said Nolff enjoyed basketball, recalling that the two often watched games together. “What saddens me the most is that my time with him is over,” he said. “We were both really into basketball, and I’ll never get to watch another basketball game with him.” Boudjemai said Nolff’s overall positive attitude about life is what stood out to him. “Nothing could get him mad,” Boudjemai said. “He was always optimistic about things. He had a way of lightening everyone’s
spirits.” Reactions to Nolff’s death have come from all corners of the MSU community on social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter. Others took to the streets to show their solidarity and support for Nolff’s family and friends as they grieved. On Sunday afternoon, members of the Black Student Alliance held a candlelight vigil to celebrate Nolff’s life and to attempt to create a feeling of peace and closure in the area where he was shot. Education freshman Calvon Sheridan, a friend of Nolff’s who attended the vigil, said he never imagined something so See NOLFF on page 2 u