Suspects Charged in USC Shooting Case
Two suspects in the shooting deaths of USC graduate students Ming Qu and Ying Wu were charged with capital murder Tuesday.
LAPD arrested Bryan Barnes, 20, and Javier Bolden, 19. The two men are being held without bail. Their arraignment has been postponed until June 25. The nature of the killings has made the suspects eligible for the death penalty, if found guilty.
"I am proud of my investigators who worked tirelessly on this case," said Police Chief Charlie Beck. "This was a case that reverberated throughout Los Angeles as well as internationally. This was a case that needed to be solved."
Qu and Wu were shot to death on April 11th. Police told the Los Angeles Times that shells found near the shooting helped to link the suspects to the homicides. The Times is also reporting that Barnes is believed to have been the shooter - police were able to trace a cell phone stolen at the time of the killings to him.
"(Police) shared our outrage at this senseless and singular act and worked passionately to reach a resolution," USC President C.L. Nikias said in a statement. "We will always mourn the loss of Ying and Ming, but find comfort in the hope of achieving justice."
However, the parents of Qu and Wu recently filed a wrongful-death lawsuit against USC. Their lawsuit claims that USC "actively solicits international students particularly from China for its graduate studies program for which it receives a substantial sum of money from tuition to help fund the university."
But according to an attorney for USC, the parents' lawsuit is "baseless" and the "random violent act [is] not representative of the safety of USC or the neighborhoods around campus."
Mayor, Police Chief, and USC President Address Campus Safety
USC Grad Students Killed in Shooting
Chinese Student Community Reacts
