$125,000 Reward Announced
Police and USC officials announced a $125,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of the person who shot and killed two USC graduate students. Ying Wu and Ming Qu, both age 23, were international students from China studying electrical engineering.
LAPD Deputy Chief Pat Gannon said the victims were sitting in a car that was double-parked in the street when they were shot. The vehicle's emergency lights were on and the engine was running when police found them around 1 a.m. Wednesday.
Authorities say they are still investigating the motive. Gannon said there was property in the car that was unaccounted for. Police also said there could be multiple suspects.
"There's people out there who know who did this," said LAPD Commander and department spokesperson Andy Smith. "They just haven't come forward yet."
Smith said the LAPD is working closely with USC's Department of Public Safety (DPS) and university officials in conducting the investigation. They have located and downloaded all local surveillance video from DPS cameras in the surrounding area.
"We have constant on-going meetings with the DPS folks," Smith said. "We always share crime information, we work together on task forces. We're really, really closely aligned."
Smith also said the rainy weather is making the investigation more challenging. "One of things is that any biological evidence might be compromised if it gets wet," Smith said. "That's why we got the car and we brought it into our crime lab."
USC Provost Elizabeth Garrett and the Vice President of Student Affairs, Michael Jackson, both attended today's announcement.
The press conference was held at the intersection where the shooting occurred. Several Chinese media outlets were on scene to cover the event for audiences in China.
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