2 USC Students Shot Dead Near Campus

Two Chinese graduate students at the University of Southern California were killed near the Los Angeles campus just after midnight yesterday. Ying Wu, 23, was shot in the chest as she sat in a BMW with Minq Qu, who would have turned 24 today. He was shot in the head, but made it to a nearby house where he pounded on the door seeking help. He collapsed and died later at a local hospital. Police believe a lone gunman was responsible, and suspect he was trying to rob the pair, the Los Angeles Times reports.

The two, both studying engineering, were among the 2,500 Chinese students at USC, where international students make up close to a fifth of the student body. "The families have invested so much in these children, so much love, so much hope, and the children know that," the executive director of the USC-China Institute said at a memorial service on campus. "They know the expectation is they will come here and succeed." University officials say the shootings took place in an area where security has been stepped up in recent years. (More University of Southern California stories.)