LOS ANGELES — Police are expected to hold a briefing this morning as the search continues for suspects in the deadly shooting of a USC student near campus.
The investigation in the shooting death of a USC student has now been handed over to the LAPD Robbery Homicide Division.
Victor McElhaney, who was studying at USC's Thornton School of Music, was killed shortly after midnight Sunday about a mile from the campus, USC Annenberg Media reported.
McElhaney, 21, is the son of Oakland Councilwoman Lynette Gibson McElhaney, Zachary Wald, the councilwoman's chief of staff, told the Los Angeles Times.
McElhaney was part of a group of 7 to 9 young men who were in the area at midnight Saturday. Mc Elhaney and another man went into a liquor store at the location, and when they came out, they were confronted by three men who tried to rob them -- one of them shot Mc Elhaney and then ran off to a car and left.
The investigation has now grown to up to 15 detectives working the case, and they have interviewed the man who was with McElhaney and the other people who were with them. The focus now involves a search in a several block area for video footage from businesses with cameras to see if they captured any images of the suspects leaving the area or of the car they may have used.
"In light of the news of the tragic loss to Council Member McElhaney and her family, the City of Oakland extends its deepest condolences and prayers during this very difficult time," City Clerk LaTonda Simmons wrote in an emailed statement to the East Bay Times.
Three or four men approached the victim at the corner of Maple Avenue and Adams Boulevard in what might have been a robbery attempt and one shot him, LAPD Officer Mike Lopez told Annenberg Media. The men fled in a vehicle, police said.
McElhaney was in critical condition when he was taken to a hospital, where he died, police said. He was pronounced dead at 11 a.m. Sunday, Annenberg Media said.
No arrests had been made in connection with the shooting as of Sunday afternoon.
USC Interim President Wanda Austin sent a letter to students and faculty in which she praised the police investigation. "We appreciate the ongoing and diligent efforts of the Los Angeles Police Department to quickly identify and arrest those responsible for this senseless crime," Austin said.
The school, which is on spring break, has been in touch with McElhaney's family, she said.
McElhaney is from Oakland, where he was an instructor at Oakland Public Conservatory of Music, the university said. In the fall of 2017, he transferred from California State University East Bay to USC to pursue Jazz Studies. He was an active member of USC's Center for Black Cultural and Student Affairs.
"He believed in the power of music to touch lives, to heal, and to bring hope," Austin said in her statement. "Victor's loss will affect all of the faculty and students who knew him."
The USC community has previously been hit by violent crime. On July 24, 2014, 24-year-old student Xinran Ji was killed after he was attacked by a group of four people as he walked home from a study group near the campus. He made it back to his apartment and died before he was found by a roommate.
The attackers were convicted of the killing and sent to prison.
-Associated Press and KNX 1070
