USC students robbed; suspect shot, wounded

LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- A group of USC students were robbed at gunpoint early Wednesday morning. No students were hurt, but campus police shot and wounded the suspect.

A woman and three men were robbed by an armed suspect while walking down sorority and fraternity row at about 12:30 a.m. After taking property from the victims, the suspect ran through an alley to 30th and Figueroa streets, where campus police saw the armed suspect and shot him in the leg.

"Two of the students followed the suspect, at which time they were able to flag down an officer from the department of public safety from USC," said LAPD Cmdr. Bob Green.

USC senior Kari Van Horn was walking to fraternity row when she witnessed the shooting.

"His eyes just went shot, and he didn't know what to do, and he panicked and drew his weapon, and as soon as that happened, then he was on the floor," she said.

Authorities said the suspect, 24-year-old Jeremy Hendricks, sustained a non-life threatening gunshot wound. No officers were injured.

The shooting left students rattled. Megan Waters said her friend told her not to go home because of the shooting, while Lindsey Schuster said she heard the shots fired.

"I heard a gunshot, so I looked out the window and within like a minute, there was public safety and cop cars outside," she said.

The incident happened just a block from the USC campus, and the shooting comes just one week after two USC graduate students were fatally shot near campus.

Authorities said they are looking into whether Hendricks is connected to last week's homicides.

"We have a suspect within the same general area within a week of the double homicides, but at this point, it would be clearly speculation to tie the two together," Green said.

Police have recovered Hendricks' gun and will test it to see if it has any link to the murders of Ming Qu and Ying Wu.

The LAPD says Hendricks has an extensive criminal record, with prior arrests for assaults and assault with a deadly weapon, burglary and robbery. He's currently on probation for manufacturing dangerous weapons.

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