A USC professor who was fatally stabbed on the school’s campus, allegedly by a student who was in custody Saturday, had taught there since 2001.
Authorities said the professor was targeted in Friday’s attack, and the murder was “not a random act of violence.”
The suspect, a 28-year-old student, was arrested and bail was set at $1 million.
The alleged assailant was identified as David Jonathan Brown of Los Angeles, according to Officer Mike Lopez of the LAPD’s Media Relations Section.
The USC Department of Public Safety said he was arrested without incident.
“This was not a random act of violence,” according to a statement posted on the Department’s website. “The Los Angeles Police Department believes this was the result of a personal dispute.”
The murder sent a horrified chill through the USC campus community. The Los Angeles Times quoted a number of students as being scared and wary. One teaching assistant even said he’ll be more careful with his students and worry if he’s “going too hard on them.”
USC officials identified the victim as psychology professor Bosco Tjan, who was married and had a son, according to media reports and a letter to the campus community from USC President C.L. Max Nikias.
But his full name was Siaufung Tjan, 53, of Cerritos, according to Lt. Dave Smith of the Los Angeles County Coroner’s office.
It was the second fatal attack on a Los Angeles professor allegedly by someone in the academic community this year, as a similar incident took place at UCLA.
Tjan was a training faculty member in the USC Neuroscience Graduate Program. He was an expert on perception, vision and vision cognition and helped found the USC Dornsife Cognitive Neuroscience Imaging Center, where he served as co-director, USC officials said.
He received his doctorate in computer science from the University of Minnesota.
The stabbing was reported at 4:30 p.m. Friday at the Seeley G. Mudd building in the 3600 block of McClintock Avenue, authorities said.
Tjan, who was stabbed in the chest, was pronounced dead at the scene, according to Margaret Stewart of the Los Angeles Fire Department.
The university issued an alert to students warning of police activity at the Mudd building, but made it clear there was no threat to the campus or surrounding community, the alert stated.
People were nonetheless warned to avoid the area.
The murder occurred on the final day of classes before finals.
— City News Service