A 21-year-old college student suspected of murder in Georgia was tracked down and arrested while hiding at a small New York community college.
According to law enforcement, Doensley-Astrell was attending Broome Community College at the State University of New York in Binghamton when he was arrested on September 16th. Georgia State University Police have issued an arrest warrant for him.
“It's not every day that someone is taken into custody on suspicion of murder on a college campus,” Broome County Sheriff's Office (BCSO) Capt. Frederick J. Akshar II told FOX News Digital.
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Doensley Astrel, a fugitive wanted on murder charges in Georgia, has been arrested in New York. (Broome County Sheriff's Office)
Akshar and his team tracked down Astrel after BCSO received information that the college student had an active arrest warrant for murder in Georgia.
“We have a crime analysis center here, and the staff at the crime analysis center was able to push information to us in real time from Georgia authorities that they were looking for Mr. Astrel,” Akshar said. “Knowing that he was wanted for murder in the state of Georgia and that he may have some ties to this particular area, our community college partners and law enforcement partners were able to provide that name to the student's possible… I recognized that there is a sex.”
He added that authorities quickly learned that Astrel had provided the university with an inaccurate home address.
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Police say Doensley Astrell, a Broome Community College student facing murder charges in Georgia, was found hiding on the Binghamton, New York, campus. (Instagram/Sunny Bloom cc)
“One of the first questions I asked was if we were going to search his residence. We thought there might be evidence of a murder, but we knew exactly where Mr. Astrel was staying. I was not able to confirm that. I gave him his address, but it was an old address…he was no longer in the relationship,'' Akshar explained.
BCSO worked with the SUNY Broome Campus Safety Office to safely apprehend Astrel, who was on campus. Astrel was enrolled part-time at Broome Community College and lived off campus, the college told Fox News Digital in a statement.
“Our detective division… conducted what I would describe as a three-day surveillance operation. And on the third day, we were able to take him into custody while he was at the community college.” said Akshar.
Akshar could not provide the exact time frame of the crime or any further information about the murder, but said Broome County police had been searching for the murder suspect for about a week.
This view shows the campus of Broome Community College in Binghamton, New York, where police arrested murder suspect Doensley Astrel on a warrant from Georgia. (Instagram/Sunny Bloom cc)
“Our area is generally kind of in the middle of all the major cities in New York state,” Akshar said. “And, you know, we often deal with people who may have committed murder in Rochester and come to Binghamton to hide, or committed murder in New York City and come to Binghamton to hide. I realized that there was,” Akshar said. “So I don't think it's unusual for us to have someone wanted for this type of crime or this type of crime. But, you know, on a college campus, we have someone in custody on suspicion of murder. It's no less unusual than being a student.''It's a common occurrence. ”
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“College operations were not affected and there was no threat to students or staff, which is always our top priority,” Broome Community College, State University of New York, said in a statement.
Georgia State University Police did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment or information about the incident. Information about the Georgia murders has not been released.
“I think it was a very cooperative and coordinated effort by members of law enforcement to take a very dangerous person into custody without harming others,” Akshar said.
Astrel is expected to be extradited to Georgia within the next week, BCSO told FOX News Digital.
