Deadly shooting revives concerns about USC's neighborhood [View all]

[ellisonz]

Police suspect that a lone gunman shot two USC graduate students early Wednesday, possibly during a robbery attempt. Although crime has fallen, perceptions that the area is dangerous persist.
By Andrew Blankstein, Ashley Powers and Rosanna Xia, Los Angeles Times

April 11, 2012, 6:09 p.m.

It started as a typical evening for Ming Qu and Ying Wu, two graduate students from China studying electrical engineering at USC.

After a night at the library, Qu drove Wu to the house where she was renting a room less than a mile from campus. He double parked in front of the home early Wednesday morning to continue talking.

At around 1 a.m., a gunman approach Qu's BMW and opened fire, killing both students in an attack that shocked USC and rekindled long-held concerns about safety around the university.

Qu attempted to run for help after he was shot in the head and was found collapsed on a nearby porch, police said. Wu was found shot in the chest, slumped over in the passenger seat of the car parked on a tree-lined stretch of Raymond Avenue just south of Adams Boulevard.

More: http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-04-12-usc-shooting-20120412,0,6840970.story

My condolences to the families of the victims, and my sincere hope that this will not cast too much of a pale on Los Angeles.