Li Jing, a former Chinese foreign exchange student at the University of Southern California (USC), places flowers at the entrance of the home of Ying Wu on April 13. US authorities have offered $200,000 in reward money to find whoever killed two Chinese graduate students in Los Angeles last week, after more funds were pledged Tuesday. (AFP Photo/Robyn Beck)
US authorities have offered $200,000 in reward money to find whoever killed two Chinese graduate students in Los Angeles last week, after more funds were pledged Tuesday.
The male and female students from the University of Southern California (USC) were shot in the early hours of last Wednesday, as they sat in a car in an area southwest of downtown Los Angeles.
The USC and the LA Police Department (LAPD) offered $125,000 last week, to which the City of Los Angeles added $75,000 on Tuesday, said city deputy Bernard Parks, a former police chief whose district includes the area involved.
The parents of the electrical engineering students — named as Ming Qu and Ying Wu, both 23 — arrived in Los Angeles from China over the weekend.
“The last thing a parent thinks about when they send their kid to college is that they’re going to have to bury them before they reach their graduation,” said Parks.
Fellow city deputy Jan Perry added: “Someone knows who did this.
“I hope that this reward will… cause someone to care enough about two people who were just studying to have a better life and were harming no one, two young people whose entire lives were ahead of them and bring some justice.”
The motive for the shootings was unclear, but police believe it may have been a bungled carjacking.
Los Angeles has a large Chinese and Chinese-American population, including many students. Certain areas of the city are known for frequent gun violence.