Arrest Made After SUNY Student Killed Near Campus

Police in northern New York state are looking for answers in the killing of a 21-year-old student who was found dying from gunshot wounds in the town of Potsdam Friday night. Elizabeth Howell, a music education student at SUNY Potsdam Crane School of Music, was pronounced dead at a local hospital at 7pm Friday, around an hour after police responded to reports of an unconscious woman around 100 feet away from the campus, ABC7 reports.

Michael Snow, 31, was arrested and charged with second-degree murder, Syracuse.com reports. University officials say the suspect, who is being held without bail, "has no affiliation with the college, either as a student, employee, or graduate." Snow is a resident of Massena, around 20 miles north of Potsdam. State police say he passed through Potsdam, Hopkinton, Malone, Westville, Hogansburg, and Massena Friday evening in a gray Honda Civic with NY registration KVE2731, and they have asked anybody who saw him or his vehicle to call (518) 873-2750.

SUNY Potsdam says Howell, a cellist who performed with the Crane Symphony Orchestra, was due to graduate this year. Classes were canceled Monday. "She was an aspiring educator with a bright future ahead of her," Potsdam President Dr. Phil Neisser said in a letter to students and faculty, per ABC7. Police have not disclosed a possible motive, CBS New York reports. (More SUNY stories.)