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Jan 23, 2009
Virginia Tech killing
Decapitated
Xin Yang, a 22-year-old graduate student from Beijing, was decapitated by a fellow Chinese student. -- PHOTOS: ASSOCIATED PRESS
View more photos
WASHINGTON - A FEMALE Chinese graduate student has been decapitated by a fellow student at Virginia Tech, the scene of the worst school shooting in US history in 2007, police said on Thursday.
At approximately 7pm on Wednesday (8am Singapore time), Ms Xin Yang, a 22-year-old graduate student from Beijing, was killed at an Au Bon Pain cafe on the Virginia Tech campus in Blacksburg, Virginia, university officials said.
Alone and in a new country, graduate student Xin Yang reached out to other Chinese students at Virginia Tech when she arrived two weeks ago, trying to establish her life on campus.
She went to social events with international students, got in touch with the campus center that works to help them adjust and appeared to be making friends as she settled into her accounting programme, those who had met her said.
But one of the friendships may have led to her death.
University officials said that emergency contact records suggest that Ms Yang and the student who murdered her, Haiyang Zhu from Ningbo, China, knew each other. According to officials, witnesses said Zhu, 25, attacked Ms Yang with a knife.
'There were seven witnesses in the cafe. There had been no argument, no shouting' when the young woman was attacked, said Virginia Tech spokesman Mark Owczarski, confirming that Yang had been decapitated.
The Collegiate Times, the university's newspaper, said police received a 911 emergency call minutes after the assault and the officer who arrived at the scene found Yang's head had been cut off. The murder weapon, a large kitchen knife, was found at the scene.
In a copy of a police affidavit published by the Collegiate Times, the officer said that when she arrived at the scene she found Zhu holding Yang's head in his hand.
'This is horrible and tragic. Especially when we know that Virginia Tech has got its share of hardship and horror,' Mr Owczarski said.
'An act of violence like this brings back memories of April 16,' university President Charles Steger said. 'I have no doubt that many of us feel especially distraught.'
It appeared Ms Yang, who was from Beijing, had met her accused attacker only recently said Ms Kim Beisecker, the director of Cranwell International Center, which works with international students.
Zhu, a doctoral student in agricultural and applied economics, had been assisting her in adjusting to life at Tech, something the 500 Chinese students often do for new members in their community, she said. They both attended functions for international students, she said.
'She was a very sweet young woman,' she said. 'He was known as a polite young man.'
Though they apparently didn't know each other well, school records listed Zhu as one of her emergency contacts. Ms Beisecker said that may have been because Ms Yang knew few people on campus.
'As best we know, she had made a fair number of friends, but only in the last week,' Ms Beisecker said.
In April 2007, Cho Seung Hui, a 23-year-old Virginia Tech student born in South Korea, shot 32 fellow classmates and teachers to death before killing himself.
'The tragic attack on campus this week has no doubt revived terrible memories for countless members of the Hokie family,' Virginia Governor Tim Kaine said in a statement offering his condolences.
Zhu was charged with first-degree murder and was being held without bond at the Montgomery County Jail. His attorney, Ms Stephanie Cox, did not return a call seeking comment on Thursday.
Classes were held as usual Thursday and the sprawling 2,600-acre (1,052-hectare) campus appeared normal, with students skateboarding, talking on cell phones and chatting with friends.
Ms Tasha Lockhart, a sophomore from Maryland, went to her biology class in the Graduate Life Center's auditorium on Thursday afternoon.
She said she felt 'a little bit' wary. Her instructor told students to be aware of exits that were away from the main entrance in case of trouble, she said. -- AFP, AP
Mr Haiyang Zhu from Ningbo, China, was a PhD graduate student.
The gruesome killing took place at a cafe on the Virginia Tech campus.
Home > Breaking News > World > Story
Jan 23, 2009
Virginia Tech killing
Decapitated
Xin Yang, a 22-year-old graduate student from Beijing, was decapitated by a fellow Chinese student. -- PHOTOS: ASSOCIATED PRESS
View more photos
WASHINGTON - A FEMALE Chinese graduate student has been decapitated by a fellow student at Virginia Tech, the scene of the worst school shooting in US history in 2007, police said on Thursday.
At approximately 7pm on Wednesday (8am Singapore time), Ms Xin Yang, a 22-year-old graduate student from Beijing, was killed at an Au Bon Pain cafe on the Virginia Tech campus in Blacksburg, Virginia, university officials said.
Alone and in a new country, graduate student Xin Yang reached out to other Chinese students at Virginia Tech when she arrived two weeks ago, trying to establish her life on campus.
She went to social events with international students, got in touch with the campus center that works to help them adjust and appeared to be making friends as she settled into her accounting programme, those who had met her said.
But one of the friendships may have led to her death.
University officials said that emergency contact records suggest that Ms Yang and the student who murdered her, Haiyang Zhu from Ningbo, China, knew each other. According to officials, witnesses said Zhu, 25, attacked Ms Yang with a knife.
'There were seven witnesses in the cafe. There had been no argument, no shouting' when the young woman was attacked, said Virginia Tech spokesman Mark Owczarski, confirming that Yang had been decapitated.
The Collegiate Times, the university's newspaper, said police received a 911 emergency call minutes after the assault and the officer who arrived at the scene found Yang's head had been cut off. The murder weapon, a large kitchen knife, was found at the scene.
In a copy of a police affidavit published by the Collegiate Times, the officer said that when she arrived at the scene she found Zhu holding Yang's head in his hand.
'This is horrible and tragic. Especially when we know that Virginia Tech has got its share of hardship and horror,' Mr Owczarski said.
'An act of violence like this brings back memories of April 16,' university President Charles Steger said. 'I have no doubt that many of us feel especially distraught.'
It appeared Ms Yang, who was from Beijing, had met her accused attacker only recently said Ms Kim Beisecker, the director of Cranwell International Center, which works with international students.
Zhu, a doctoral student in agricultural and applied economics, had been assisting her in adjusting to life at Tech, something the 500 Chinese students often do for new members in their community, she said. They both attended functions for international students, she said.
'She was a very sweet young woman,' she said. 'He was known as a polite young man.'
Though they apparently didn't know each other well, school records listed Zhu as one of her emergency contacts. Ms Beisecker said that may have been because Ms Yang knew few people on campus.
'As best we know, she had made a fair number of friends, but only in the last week,' Ms Beisecker said.
In April 2007, Cho Seung Hui, a 23-year-old Virginia Tech student born in South Korea, shot 32 fellow classmates and teachers to death before killing himself.
'The tragic attack on campus this week has no doubt revived terrible memories for countless members of the Hokie family,' Virginia Governor Tim Kaine said in a statement offering his condolences.
Zhu was charged with first-degree murder and was being held without bond at the Montgomery County Jail. His attorney, Ms Stephanie Cox, did not return a call seeking comment on Thursday.
Classes were held as usual Thursday and the sprawling 2,600-acre (1,052-hectare) campus appeared normal, with students skateboarding, talking on cell phones and chatting with friends.
Ms Tasha Lockhart, a sophomore from Maryland, went to her biology class in the Graduate Life Center's auditorium on Thursday afternoon.
She said she felt 'a little bit' wary. Her instructor told students to be aware of exits that were away from the main entrance in case of trouble, she said. -- AFP, AP
Mr Haiyang Zhu from Ningbo, China, was a PhD graduate student.
The gruesome killing took place at a cafe on the Virginia Tech campus.
