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To see what the campus community is saying about the shootings, Click Here
The LSU Indian Student Association will be sponsoring a memorial service tonight from 8 to 10 p.m. in the LSU Union Ballroom in remembrance of Chandrasekhar Reddy Komma and Kiran Kumar Allam. The public is invited to attend.
The University has also established a support fund for the families. People wishing to donate to the "Komma & Allam Support Fund" can do so online at http://www.lsufoundation.org/, or send checks, made payable to LSU Foundation, to 3838 West Lakeshore Drive, Baton Rouge, LA 70806.
Meawhile, the University held a press conference today to address the double homicide in Edward Gay Apartments last night.
Chancellor Sean O'Keefe told the assembled media the University sends their condolences to the families of the dead, and wanted to express to the entire University community that campus is safe and all measures are being taken to ensure the culprits are caught.
The victims were identified early Friday morning.
The Daily Reveille has learned that Komma taught a biology lab class at the University.
Both men were pursuing Ph.Ds. O'Keefe said the crime appeared to be targeted, and the University does not believe students are in continued danger. Only one of the men lived in the complex, O'Keefe said. The other lived in an off campus residence.
He said one of the men was found bound in the apartment. Both were shot in the head. System spokesman Charles Zewe told Fox News that Komma was found bound with a computer cable.
O'Keefe said the city coroner was conducting the autopsy this morning, but he did not know when results would be available. He also said a joint task force has been formed by the LSUPD and BRPD to investigate the murder.
He said few details are available about the culprit, but that the task force is working diligently to determine who killed the two men. He said there are no security cameras in the area.
LSUPD was called to the scene around 10:30 p.m. As a result of the apparent shooting, the University employed its emergency alert system, sending out a broadcast e-mail and text message to students.
But students began reporting that they had not received the text message. O'Keefe said the company that the text message service was contracted through was contacted at 2 a.m. to determine why many students did not receive alerts. He said all students, faculty and staff did receive a broadcast e-mail alerting them to the incident.
University spokeswoman Kristine Calongne said they have located faculty and staff, including people working in the Emergency Control Center, that received the message last night.
The University sent a broadcast e-mail at about 4:30 a.m. informing students that there had been problems with the text message system. Some students complained that the text of the e-mail was insensitive because it referred to the incident as the first "opportunity to test" the system.
Calongne said she had received complaints about the e-mail, and that the intention of the e-mail was to alert students to the problem, not be insensitive toward the incident.
O'Keefe said the University and LSUPD are working to ensure the safety of campus and that about eight officers have been posted at Edward Gay Apartments.
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Archived Updates
The University released a statement identifying the two shooting victims in a double homicide in Edward Gay Apartments tonight.
The victims were identified as Chandrasekhar Reddy Komma and Krian Kumar Allam, according to the statement. Both men were pursuing Ph.Ds. No suspects have been identified, and the University is encouraging students to be cautious.
At 4:15 a.m. University spokesperson Kristine Calongne said LSUPD has determined that it appeared to be a home invasion.
Calongne also said University officials are talking with the company which designed the text messaging system to determine why problems occurred when the emergency message was sent. She said another message will be sent when the problem is identified.
A statement sent by the University as a broadcast e-mail informed students that the University will remain open and finals will continue as scheduled.
Neighbors who were gathered outside the crime scene Thursday night said Allam lived in the apartment where the shooting occurred with his wife. One neighbor said Allam's wife was seen in the apartment soon after the shooting occurred, but was not home at the time of the shooting.
The University issued the following statement:
The LSU Police Department is investigating a double homicide that took place on LSU's campus late in the evening on Thursday, Dec. 13. The homicides occurred at the Edward Gay Apartments, located near the intersection of West Roosevelt Street and Gov. Claiborne Drive, adjacent to the LSU Band practice field.
The victims, Chandrasekhar Reddy Komma and Kiran Kumar Allam, were both male Ph.D. students at LSU, and both were international students. The students were found inside an apartment at the Edward Gay complex. LSUPD is currently working the case, with assistance from the Baton Rouge Police Department, but no suspects have been identified. Therefore, university officials are urging the LSU community to use caution when moving about campus this morning.
The initial call to LSUPD came in at 10:37 p.m. as a medical emergency. Officers and medical personnel were immediately dispatched to the scene, assessed the situation and notified their supervisors at LSUPD. Those supervisors then contacted university officials, who rushed to campus, gathered the latest information and sent out an emergency text message to members of the LSU community who had previously registered their cell phones with the university's emergency text-message system. University officials also sent out a broadcast e-mail to members of the LSU community, sent a broadcast voice message to all campus phones and posted a message to the LSU Web site.
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