Victims’ families will travel to Los Angeles
The families of two international graduate students who were fatally shot have been granted visas to travel from China to the United States, said Michael Jackson, vice president for student affairs.
Jackson said the parents and some extended family members of both victims should arrive within the next several days. The director of the Viterbi School of Engineering’s program in Beijing will accompany the families.
Ming Qu, 23, and Ying Wu, 23, were fatally shot at approximately 1 a.m. Wednesday morning while sitting in Qu’s vehicle near the intersection of Raymond Avenue and 27th Street.
Qu’s family lives in the Jilin province of China. His mother is a high school teacher and his father works for an insurance company.
Wu’s family lives in the Hunan province of China. Wu’s father works for a local police department and her mother is retired.
USC is working closely with the Chinese Consulate-General in Los Angeles to communicate with the victims’ families.
“Our focus is on supporting the families,” Jackson said.
Wu and Qu were graduate students studying electrical engineering at Viterbi.
“They were very close friends who supported each other, studied hard in class and formed close bonds and friendships with the faculty at the Viterbi School of Engineering,” Jackson said. “We are deeply sorry they are no longer with us.”
Jackson said an on-campus memorial for Qu and Wu will be planned once the families arrive.
The gunman remains at large. USC is offering $125,000 for information leading to an arrest and conviction in the case. Anyone with information is asked to call the LAPD’s Criminal Gang Homicide Division at (213) 485-4341 or the Detective Information Desk at the 24-hour toll-free number 877-LAPD-24-7.
To Ana Bolanos, I couldn’t agree more. The University should spare no expense to encourage further development near the campus of safe housing. What a horrible crime, and how ridiculous for a University that is trying to raise $6 billion dollars for an endowment, when they can’t even keep our kids safe. I find it frustrating they are about to spend $70 million dollars to open an new center for athletes, but kids are living in sub-Standard housing to attend an expensive private school. How can they stop campus cruisers at 2:45 am? They should have 24 hour a day shuttle service, more security, etc. I don’t care how “safe” the area is now statsitically. Two deaths are too many for a “world class ” University. The damage to USC”s reputation should be far greater than the costs of more security.
Were either Ying or Ming only children? If so, has anyone thought about whether either set of
parents will need financial help in their old age and who will provide it?
This could happen anywhere, more gun control is needed. 2 people where shot sitting in their truck in Mill Valley today, one of the nicest cities in California, by a motorcyclist. It can happen anywhere.
More video cameras, less guns, and hard sentences for criminals/death penalty for murderers.
This is incredibly tragic. I cannot imagine the depth of grief that the parents feel. I implore USC to provide safer housing for the students. Our daughter will be living off campus next year and we are ambivalent abour allowing her to continue her studies at USC. The safety of the students should be considered paramount. Hire qualified staff that reflect the integrity of USC to protect our children. I understand that off campus security do not make the students feel save.
This is the price Americans have to pay for gun owership. Beside, what if their parents are corrupted officals?