A highly publicized shooting made the news in both the U.S. and China when two Chinese USC students were gunned down, in close proximity to their campus, on April 11. Now, just over a month later, the families of both students have named USC in a wrongful death lawsuit, as reported by several news media, including the Huffington Post.
The two, M.Q. and Y.W., attended USC as electrical engineer students.
The suit was filed in the Los Angeles Superior Court on May 16. The damages are yet to be specified.
At approximately one in the morning, while M.Q. and Y.W. were seated in a parked car, they were approached, according to police reports, by the shooter in what may have been a carjacking attempt. The shooter remains unidentified.
The two had been parked, close to USC, in the 2700 block of Raymond Avenue.
USC issued a statement on the day of the deaths that stated school officials were "saddened and outraged by this callous and meaningless act." Los Angeles Police Department investigators were joined by USC's Department of Public Safety (DPS) in investigating the murders.
While the community has been shocked by the event, allegedly USC has worked, and continues to work, to ease some of their concerns. Both DPS and the LAPD have issued statements about the lessening of criminal acts, over the last decade, in the community surrounding the university.
In the last month both entities made changes to improve security in response to the murders. On April 27 they announced that 30 new officers would be added to clean up the area.
The cost of adding the additional officers has not been released.
Alan Newman is the attorney representing both families. Debra Wong Yang is representing USC.
Yang said, "As part of our support for the families, we met with them and offered financial assistance as a gesture of kindness and sympathy. The attorney for the families subsequently instructed them to decline USC's gesture." To which Newman, once reached for comment, countered with, "That's absolutely false. That's not what we (attorneys) do. The parents decided on their own to deny it because it tied in a complete release of liability."
Newman further added that the financial assistance offered was "relatively minor."
The lawsuit states that USC "is not one of the safest U.S. universities and colleges" – an item implied on the USC website – and "does not provide twenty four hour law enforcement services in the surrounding neighborhoods and is in a high crime area."
In comparing the "urban" area around USC to what a Chinese student may be used to, the suit states, "in China the more urban the area, the safer the area."
Yang said, "USC is deeply saddened by this tragic event, which was a random violent act not representative of the safety of USC or the neighborhoods around campus. While we have deep sympathy for the victims' families, this lawsuit is baseless and we will move to have it dismissed."
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