Name: Anonymous 2009-01-25 15:10
Virginia Tech Student Decapitated
11:02am UK, Friday January 23, 2009
A student has been decapitated in a cafe at Virginia Tech university, the site of the worst school massacre in US history two years ago.
Xin Yang and Haiyang Zhu
Xin Yang and Haiyang Zhu. Pictures: Virginia Tech University/ Montgomery County Sheriff Department
Xin Yang's head was cut off with a kitchen knife, just weeks after arriving in the United States from China to study accounting.
Her alleged attacker, Haiyang Zhu, also from China, was arrested at the scene by an officer who arrived less than a minute after receiving an emergency call.
On January 7, he wrote on a Chinese-language blog he had been so frustrated over stock losses and other problems that he thought "only of killing someone or committing suicide".
Miss Xin, 22, was believed to have been having coffee with Haiyang in the campus Au Bon Pain cafe.
Seven witnesses from the cafe have said there was no argument or shouting prior to the killing on Wednesday at 7pm.
The officer on the scene reported finding 25-year-old Haiyang holding her head in his hand, according to a police affidavit.
He has been charged with first-degree murder.
It is understood the pair had recently made friends and PhD student Haiyang was listed as one of Miss Xin's emergency contacts, according to university records.
He was not known to the university team who deal with mentally disturbed students.
Virginia Tech president Charles Steger said the killing had stirred up memories of the 2007 massacre.
"Once again we are challenged as a community to offer support to one another as we process this recent event. Once again we will rise to the occasion," he said.
11:02am UK, Friday January 23, 2009
A student has been decapitated in a cafe at Virginia Tech university, the site of the worst school massacre in US history two years ago.
Xin Yang and Haiyang Zhu
Xin Yang and Haiyang Zhu. Pictures: Virginia Tech University/ Montgomery County Sheriff Department
Xin Yang's head was cut off with a kitchen knife, just weeks after arriving in the United States from China to study accounting.
Her alleged attacker, Haiyang Zhu, also from China, was arrested at the scene by an officer who arrived less than a minute after receiving an emergency call.
On January 7, he wrote on a Chinese-language blog he had been so frustrated over stock losses and other problems that he thought "only of killing someone or committing suicide".
Miss Xin, 22, was believed to have been having coffee with Haiyang in the campus Au Bon Pain cafe.
Seven witnesses from the cafe have said there was no argument or shouting prior to the killing on Wednesday at 7pm.
The officer on the scene reported finding 25-year-old Haiyang holding her head in his hand, according to a police affidavit.
He has been charged with first-degree murder.
It is understood the pair had recently made friends and PhD student Haiyang was listed as one of Miss Xin's emergency contacts, according to university records.
He was not known to the university team who deal with mentally disturbed students.
Virginia Tech president Charles Steger said the killing had stirred up memories of the 2007 massacre.
"Once again we are challenged as a community to offer support to one another as we process this recent event. Once again we will rise to the occasion," he said.