By Bae Ji-sook
Staff Reporter
A Korean student of Virginia Tech, identified as a Kim, was found dead in his car at a shopping mall parking lot near the university campus in Blacksburg, Virginia, Sunday, Yonhap News reported Friday.
The police have assumed the cause of death to be suicide, though family members refuted that, saying he had no reason to kill himself. They claim he was possibly murdered. A close relative of the deceased, a senior at the university, said local police informed relatives that Kim was shot dead.
They said Kim was found with a gun he bought in late November and that the death looked to be a suicide.
However, the family said there was no suicide note found and his mobile phone records had been deleted, taking this as evidence of foul play.
Some people wonder if the death could be related to the Virginia Tech massacre of April 16, where Korean Cho Seung-hui killed 32 students and wounded many more before committing suicide ― the deadliest school shooting in the United States' history.
Back then some Koreans feared there might be a backlash, however the American public were quick to see it as an isolated, yet tragic, incident.
bjs@koreatimes.co.kr
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