Teaching assistant killed in Purdue school shooting was an Eagle Scout

In news that makes a tragic story hit painfully close to home, today we learned Andrew Boldt, the victim of Tuesday’s fatal shooting at Purdue University, was an Eagle Scout.

Boldt, a 21-year-old undergraduate teaching assistant and electrical engineering major at Purdue, earned Scouting’s highest honor in August 2009, Boy Scouts of America records confirm. Former teachers called him bright and always willing to help others.

Boldt was inside the school’s Electrical Engineering Building about noon Tuesday when he was shot and killed. The alleged shooter is currently in jail on suspicion of homicide, and a motive is not yet known.

Last night, hundreds gathered in single-digit weather at a candlelight vigil on campus, according to the Los Angeles Times.

The Boldt family, according to the (Lafayette, Ind.) Journal and Courier, is asking for privacy. They released a statement through their church that “for the moment their request is simply that we pray. … We continue to lift up Andrew and all those who suffer into the loving hands of Christ.”

We’re all members of Scouting’s tight-knit family, and so let’s keep Andrew’s family in our thoughts and prayers. A fellow Scout and Eagle Scout has gone home; may he rest in peace.


About Bryan Wendell 3282 Articles
Bryan Wendell, an Eagle Scout, is the founder of Bryan on Scouting and a contributing writer.