Parents of slain Chinese students visit crime scene

Parents of the two Chinese students slain last week near the University of Southern California (USC) campus have visited the crime scene and will talk to detectives, police said Monday.

The relatives of 23-year-old graduate students Ming Qu and Ying Wu, who studied electrical engineering at USC, visited the 2700 block of Raymond Avenue in the West Adams area on Sunday, according to Los Angeles Police Commander Andrew Smith.

The parents of both victims talked with the school, police and Chinese officials about the memorial services and possible fundraising efforts.

A meeting with school officials, including those in charge of security and transportation, is scheduled to take place on campus Monday evening.

The Chinese Students and Scholars Association (CSSA) encouraged Chinese students to participate in the event to vent their fears over the security and crimes on and off campus.

"I can say that people from across the university have pulled together to address the needs and concerns of the families," Clayton Dube, executive director of USC US-China Institute, told Xinhua. "University leaders, faculty, staff and students have all been involved."

"We've had close cooperation with a wide variety of offices ranging from the Chinese consulate, municipal agencies, Chinese government offices and the U.S. embassy in Beijing," Dube said.

"I've been impressed at how hard, fast and effectively people have worked to do what needs to be done. Everyone recognizes that this is a terrible tragedy, and the uniform response from everyone I've encountered is 'What can I do to help?'" he added.

Patrick Gannon, deputy chief of Los Angeles Police Department, said the victims were shot two to three times when they were sitting in a 2003 BMW around 1 a.m. last Wednesday.

Qu managed to get out of the car and tried to stagger to a nearby house before collapsing on the front porch. The shooter fled southbound after the shooting, and a black sedan was also seen leaving the area.

Minutes later, paramedics sent the victims to a nearby hospital, where they were pronounced dead, Gannon said.

USC has offered a 125,000 U.S. dollar reward for information leading to the arrest of the culprit.