In the garage, the student told police he discovered a man and when the student told the man to get out, the man accosted him, Guglielmi said. The student defended himself with the sword, cutting off the man's hand and causing a severe laceration to his upper body, he said.
Campus security and an off-duty city officer responding to a call for a suspicious person in the area around 1:20 a.m. Tuesday heard screams to call police, Guglielmi said. The man died at the scene, but police are not yet releasing his name, he said.
Michael Hughes, 43, who lives two doors down from the house where the slaying occurred, said he was getting ready for bed at around 1:30 a.m. when he heard screams from the rear of the home.
"There was fear in the voice. I could tell someone was scared," Hughes said.
Three young men were sitting on the front porch of the home around 9:30 a.m. Tuesday. A police officer was standing in the doorway, and a single police car was parked nearby.
The men refused to comment when approached by an Associated Press reporter.
Behind the three-story brick rowhouse, a wooden fence was broken. There was a pool of blood in the brick courtyard between the back porch and the garage.
Guglielmi said the man had been arrested on charges such as burglary several times before, and had been released Saturday from a Baltimore County jail.
Police are interviewing the student and his roommates, and are talking to prosecutors about whether to file charges.
