A University of Pittsburgh professor “on the verge of making very significant” coronavirus findings was shot and killed at his home Saturday.
Bing Liu, 37, was found dead in his home Saturday afternoon. According to an autopsy, he was shot multiple times in the head, neck, and torso.
Police discovered a second person, Hao Gu, inside a car a short distance from Liu’s home. Officials believe Gu shot and killed Liu before he killed himself.
The two men knew each other, but police have not yet released a motive. They have also stated nothing was stolen and there were no signs of forced entry.
Sgt. Brian Kohlhepp with the Ross Township Police Department told NBC News that an investigation is ongoing.
Liu was a respected researcher.
In a statement, the school praised Liu for his research and “unique contributions” to science. They vowed to finish what he started as a way to pay homage to his “scientific excellence.”
“He was just starting to obtain interesting results,” Ivet Bahar, head of the computational and system biology department in Pitt’s School of Medicine told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. “He was sharing with us, trying to understand the mechanism of infection, so we will hopefully continue what he was doing.”
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