No charges yet for gun smuggled in book

WESTVILLE, Ind. (WLFI) - There are still no charges filed for an instructor from Purdue North Central who is being investigated for allegedly trying to smuggle a handgun into the Westville Correctional Facility on Tuesday, using a particularly elaborate hiding place.

Jeffrey Grupp, a West Lafayette resident, was going into the facility to teach classes at around noon on Feb. 24, according to Westville Spokesman John Schrader. He says he has a permit and carries the gun with him at all times.

Grupp was carrying a milk crate full of books with him, and Schrader says staff members noticed an unusual outline when they ran the crate through an X-Ray machine.

That's when guards found this gun, hidden inside a hollowed-out book. The gun was confiscated from Grupp, who has no criminal record.

Schrader said Grupp just began teaching at Westville when the semester started last month, but he has taught at other Department of Correction locations. Purdue lists Grupp as a "limited lecturer" in the Department of Social Sciences.