USC professor murdered on campus, ex-wife to blame
By Megan Conley, Staff Writer
Photo from thestate.com, Provided by the University of South Carolina.
A physiology professor was shot to death by his ex-wife on Feb. 5 in a murder suicide at the University of South Carolina.
Sunghee Kwon shot her ex-husband Raja Fayad before turning the gun on herself, the Associated Press reported.
The bodies of the deceased were found in the university’s health school building, in an office connected to the professor’s laboratory. It was there authorities recovered the 9 mm handgun used in the shooting.
The shooting took place at 12:50 p.m. and is said to have ensued from a domestic dispute between the couple, who divorced several years ago.
Fayad was said to have been living at a hotel after recently moving out of the home he and Kwon shared.
Faithi Elsahi, a part-time professor at USC, described Fayad’s fear of the woman who ended his life.
“He was scared of her. She was violent with him,” said Elsahi.
Earlier this year, Kwon was escorted out of Fayad’s laboratory by campus police after they received a call saying the woman would not leave Fayad’s lab.
Professor Fayad was an associate professor and the director of Integrative Immunology of Inflammation and Cancer Laboratory in the Arnold School of Public Health at the university.
While this incident is not a common occurrence, schools and universities have put an emphasis on securely resolving a shooter on campus. If a similar situation were to ensue on North Greenville’s campus, Campus Security Chief Rick Morris explains the security procedures that would occur.
“As soon as we’re notified, an officer will respond to the scene. Contrary to other procedures, we don’t wait to establish a perimeter. The first man on the scene is the first man in and he tries to neutralize the threat.”
In a dangerous situation, NGU’s Blackboard system and IRIS would be used to notify students of the threat. Once notified, students would need to barricade themselves in class, get to their car or get to closest shelter. Once the situation is resolved, an all-clear will be sent out and students will be notified.
Campus security is at work daily to keep a dangerous situation from happening.
“We have an active patrol and checking parking permits and writing tickets help us track people. We also get reports from students about suspicious people,” said Morris.
Chief Morris encourages students to report situations or people that may not seem normal.
“If you see something that doesn’t look right or someone that doesn’t belong here, then report it. Your safety and your security begins with you and making wise choices. If something makes you feel uncomfortable, we need to know,” said Morris.
