Agence France-Presse : Xin Yang decapitated in cafe at Virgina Tech cafe

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Xin Yang decapitated in cafe at Virgina Tech cafe

From correspondents in WashingtonAgence France-PresseJanuary 23, 2009 01:00pm+-PrintEmailShare

Victim ... a school ID photo of Xin Yang, 22, who was killed at Virgina Tech yesterday / AP

Woman decapitated with knife

Police suspect fellow student

Happened at scene of 2007 massacre

A WOMAN has been decapitated by a fellow student at Virginia Tech, the scene of the worst school shooting in US history in 2007.

Police said they found the alleged killer holding the head of Xin Yang, a 22-year-old graduate student from Beijing at an Au Bon Pain cafe on the Virginia Tech campus in Blacksburg, Virginia about 7pm Wednesday (11am AEDT yesterday).

Univerisity officials added that emergency contact records suggest that Yang and the student who allegedly murdered her, Haiyang Zhu from Ningbo, China, knew each other.

According to officials, witnesses said Mr Zhu, 25, attacked Ms Yang with a knife.

The Collegiate Times, the university's newspaper, said police received an emergency call minutes after the assault and the officer who arrived at the scene found Yang's head had been cut off.

The murder weapon, a large kitchen knife, was found at the scene.

In a copy of a police affidavit published by the Collegiate Times, the officer said that when she arrived at the scene she found Mr Zhu holding Ms Yang's head in his hand.

"There were seven witnesses in the cafe. There had been no argument, no shouting" when the young woman was attacked, said Virginia Tech spokesman Mark Owczarski, confirming that Yang had been decapitated.

"This is horrible and tragic. Especially when we know that Virginia Tech has got its share of hardship and horror."

In April 2007, Cho Seung-Hui, a 23-year-old Virginia Tech student born in South Korea, shot 32 fellow classmates and teachers to death before killing himself.

"The tragic attack on campus this week has no doubt revived terrible memories for countless members of the Hokie family," Virginia Governor Tim Kaine said in a statement offering his condolences.

Killer

Mr Zhu was charged with first-degree murder and was being held at a county jail. He had not had a record with university or local police, the school indicated.

Mr Yang had arrived at Virginia Tech in early January to begin studies in accounting. Ms Zhu was a PhD graduate student in agriculture and applied economics.