Oberlin Campus: Professor and Woman Found Shot Dead

Two bodies lay inside a house on South Pleasant Street on Wednesday morning, the final resting place for a long-time college professor and a local resident. Pipo Nguyen-Duy, 64, was found on the first floor, while a 47-year-old woman was discovered on the second floor. Both had been shot. The discovery forced Oberlin College to pause its day and lock down its campus as officers worked to understand how a vehicle fire in the conservatory lot led to a deadly scene two blocks away.

The sequence of events began around 8:57 a.m. when Oberlin fire crews arrived at the Oberlin College Conservatory lot to handle a smoking vehicle that appeared to be catching fire. Police officers assisted the crews and began searching for the owner. At approximately 10:19 a.m., they located the driver in the 200 block of Shipherd Circle. The individual was taken into custody shortly after being found.

Officers moved quickly to check on the suspect's family. At 10:28 a.m., they arrived at 33 South Pleasant Street. Inside, they found Nguyen-Duy and the woman dead. The suspect had been identified by the college president as a professor of studio art and photography who had taught at Oberlin since 1998. Nguyen-Duy, a native of Vietnam who immigrated to the United States as a political refugee in 1975, had also received a Guggenheim Fellowship for his work as an artist.

President Carmen Twillie Ambar issued a statement to the campus community. She described the moment as deeply challenging and confirmed that police requested a shelter-in-place order. That order was lifted after authorities confirmed there was no further danger to the campus or the surrounding neighborhood. Ambar noted that mental health resources are now available for students, faculty, and staff affected by the loss.

The investigation is ongoing. Police have not yet released the name of the suspect or the identity of the woman found on the second floor. The college continues to process the deaths of its faculty member and the other victim. The smoking vehicle in the conservatory lot remains the initial point of contact for the police response that led to the discovery of the bodies.