Friends tell of frugal, thoughtful students
Source: Agencies |
April 14, 2012, Saturday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
QU Ming was a day shy of his 24th birthday and had plans to return to China at the end of the semester to work. Wu Ying was progressive and thoughtful, friends said.
The students, shot dead as they sat in a BMW in the midnight rain about a mile from campus early on Wednesday morning, had both traveled from Beijing last spring as part of a growing wave of Chinese students to the United States, eager to earn their master's degree in electrical engineering at the University of Southern California.
The shooting drew attention half a world away as China's state television repeatedly played a report from Los Angeles with one of its reporters examining the crime scene.
Speculation swirled on China's social media sites, saying the two students were from affluent families because of the BMW.
Some Chinese students at USC chose not to attend a candlelight vigil because they were upset by the portrayal of Qu and Wu as indifferent rich students, according to Neon Tommy, a news website sponsored by USC's Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism.
"Actually the two of them were very frugal," Wu's friend Jia Silu told the website. "Wu shared a room with another girl to save rent. Those who said the BMW was US$60,000 have no conscience. It is a total lie."
Wu and Qu were on track to graduate in December.
Investigators said the attack might have been part of a robbery or attempted carjacking.
No arrests have been made. A press conference was to be held yesterday with authorities planning to announce a US$125,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the killer.
The students, shot dead as they sat in a BMW in the midnight rain about a mile from campus early on Wednesday morning, had both traveled from Beijing last spring as part of a growing wave of Chinese students to the United States, eager to earn their master's degree in electrical engineering at the University of Southern California.
The shooting drew attention half a world away as China's state television repeatedly played a report from Los Angeles with one of its reporters examining the crime scene.
Speculation swirled on China's social media sites, saying the two students were from affluent families because of the BMW.
Some Chinese students at USC chose not to attend a candlelight vigil because they were upset by the portrayal of Qu and Wu as indifferent rich students, according to Neon Tommy, a news website sponsored by USC's Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism.
"Actually the two of them were very frugal," Wu's friend Jia Silu told the website. "Wu shared a room with another girl to save rent. Those who said the BMW was US$60,000 have no conscience. It is a total lie."
Wu and Qu were on track to graduate in December.
Investigators said the attack might have been part of a robbery or attempted carjacking.
No arrests have been made. A press conference was to be held yesterday with authorities planning to announce a US$125,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the killer.
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