USC Students Gather for Candlelight Vigil

Hundreds of USC students, as far as the eye could see, gathered in the center of campus to remember Ying Wu and Ming Qu.

A candle light vigil was held in honor of the USC graduate students, who were killed this morning. They were shot and killed off campus on Raymond Avenue near West 27th street. They were both only twenty three years old.

The story has left the community stunned; they were fired at in their car. Ying was found slumped over in her seat, and Ming tried to flee, but was found dead on a nearby porch.

"I tried to call her and it just rang and rang," said Jing, a friend of Qu.

Silu Jia holds a picture of Ming he took with her in Yosemite. He says they were eating buddies.

"We had delicious food together and she told me she still gained weight but she couldn't say no to the delicious food," remembered Jia.

And even students who didn't know the victims came to mourn--to place flowers, light candles and sign a book to wish the two students goodbye.

"Just thinking about how unfair it is, these people probably woke up this morning and had no idea it would be their last day and it's over I'm just so shocked that it can end this quickly for them," said sophomore Faith Miller, while sobbing.

Students had a hard time believing this all happened so quickly.

"One minute they were sitting next to each other in the car and the next their lives were gone and the suddenness and the how immediately it happened is just so sad," Amy Huang said.

Friends continued to light candles into the night. Both of the victims were only children, which is common in China. Their families saved up to send them here. This has left of them are angry and the media's portrayal.

"It's a tragedy and no matter where they're from or how much money they have it doesn't matter," said Ashley Zhang,  friend of both Wu and Qu. "The media is saying it was a new car, an expensive car, and it wasn't. it was second hand, and even if it was expensive, that's not the point."

Some headlines in the Chinese media have read literally that Ming was out picking up women, that he's just a rich guy, and that it serves him right.

Clayton Dube, the head of the US China Institute said it's these reports that devastate parents. He was the one who had to call them this morning.

"We have people trained here to talk to parents," said Dube. "The media shouldn't do this."

Students comforted each other long after the music was over and the cameras had left.

It's clear even after the media coverage fades, many lives have been touched today.

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