Chinese recent graduate shot dead in Chicago

It is the type of outcome that has become distressingly too common for Chinese overseas students in the United States: an untimely demise as a homicide victim.

The latest incident involved a University of Chicago graduate who was shot and killed in a robbery attempt in the city's Hyde Park neighborhood on Tuesday.

The victim has been identified as Zheng Shaoxiong, 24, who was from Chengdu, Sichuan province, and also was a graduate of the University of Hong Kong.

Zheng, who also went by the name Dennis, lived in Hyde Park, where the university is situated. He received a master's degree in statistics at the prestigious university in July.

Police said Zheng was on the sidewalk on the 900 block of East 54th Place shortly before 2 pm when a vehicle pulled up; a gunman jumped out and demanded his property.

The attacker then shot Zheng in the chest, got back in the vehicle, and fled. It was not clear if any of Zheng's possessions were taken. He was left bleeding on the sidewalk. Neighbors attempted to stanch the bleeding but were unsuccessful. Zheng was taken to the University of Chicago Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead.

The gunman is still being sought by police.

The Chinese Consulate General in Chicago, in a statement posted to its website in Chinese on Thursday, condemned "the heinous crime of indiscriminate killing of innocent people" and called on "the relevant US authorities to find out and publicize the case as soon as possible and take practical measures to protect the safety of Chinese citizens, including Chinese students".

Friends gathered for a vigil for Zheng late Wednesday. A steady stream of mourners dropped off flowers at a memorial.

"I remember him because he's always willing to help others," a young woman named Xi told CBS Chicago at the vigil.

"Wow, it's really sad," she said. "I kind of feel connected because we're both from China, and I can totally understand it's really hard for the family. I can't imagine what would happen to my parents if they just received a call that says, 'Your daughter has been…'"

Funds are being raised to help Zheng's mother fly from China to Chicago. She has never been outside of China, and the Chinese Association of Greater Chicago is working to help expedite her passport.

Zheng was the third U of C student to be killed this year.

In July, Max Lewis was fatally struck by a stray bullet while riding on the Chicago Transit Authority Green Line near 51st Street.

In January, another Chinese national, Fan Yiran, a 30-year-old PhD student, was shot and killed when Jason Nightengale went on a killing spree from the South Side of Chicago to Evanston. Fan was a student in a joint program of business and economics.

"I really wish it could be safer, because now it doesn't sound like a very good place to live in, honestly," Xi said.

In a video posted Wednesday, university President Paul Alivisatos said: "Yesterday we lost a member of our university community, and today we are mourning. Shaoxiong 'Dennis' Zheng was murdered in the course of a robbery in a residential neighborhood near campus. Our deepest sympathies are with his family and loved ones. … Our community will come together soon to remember him and to honor his life.

"The violence afflicting Chicago is on the same scale as a public health crisis and demands a commensurate response," he said. "The university community and our fellow residents of Chicago's South Side — as well as citizens throughout Chicago — see a clear and urgent need to strengthen public safety.

"We have been in close contact with Mayor (Lori) Lightfoot, Chicago Police Department Superintendent (David) Brown, and other members of the mayor's team, along with local aldermen. The city is formalizing, with the university's involvement, a number of short and longer-term public safety strategies specifically for Hyde Park and surrounding communities. We will share specifics soon."

Hyde Park has seen five murders this year. Last year, it had none.

There have been 698 homicides in Chicago overall this year compared to 680 in the same period last year. In 2019, the city had 442 homicides to this point, reported WBBM News Radio in Chicago. More than 3,900 people have been shot this year in the Midwestern city on Lake Michigan.

Zheng's killing was a trending topic on Chinese social media site Weibo.

"It's not easy for his parents to raise their child so well. What a pity! I hope the killer can be caught soon," posted one netizen.

Another wrote: "The university is excellent, but he lost his life right after graduation. No life, no meaning, sigh. It is very insecure to live in the US, which is a country without a gun ban. He died young, so regrettable."

In June 2017, Zhang Yingying, a visiting Chinese scholar at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, was kidnapped and murdered by Brendt Allen Christensen, a former physics graduate student at the university. He lured her into his car at a bus stop on campus, posing as a police officer with the promise of a ride after she missed a bus. He then took her to his apartment where he raped, tortured and murdered her.

Christensen, who avoided the death penalty in the federal case, was sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole in 2019.

In January 2016, Jiang Yue, a 19-year-old Arizona State University student from China, died after being shot numerous times in a road rage incident while waiting at a red light following a fender bender with another motorist in Tempe, Arizona. Her killer, Holly Davis, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and received a 25-year prison sentence.

In July 2014, Ji Xinran, a 24-year-old engineering major at USC, was walking home from his apartment when he was jumped by four young men, including two juveniles, who beat him with blunt instruments. Ji ran from the group but was chased down and beaten a second time. He finally made it back to his apartment, where a roommate found him dead. All four suspects were convicted, with two receiving life sentences without the possibility of parole.

In April 2012, Ming Qu and Ying Wu, Chinese graduate students in electrical engineering at the University of Southern California (USC) in Los Angeles, were shot to death after sitting together in their car parked a mile outside the campus. Their killers are serving life sentences without parole eligibility.

Yifan Xu in Washington contributed to this story.