BATON ROUGE, Louisiana
Police increased patrols at Louisiana State University while they investigate the killings of two doctoral students from India, but the campus remained open Saturday, the last day of final exams.
The decision to keep the campus open was in contrast to the responses at other colleges to reports of gunfire since the Virginia Tech shootings in April. Police chose not to blockade the campus or reschedule tests because investigators believe the killings were part of an isolated home invasion, LSU Chancellor Sean O’Keefe said Friday.
Chandrasekhar Reddy Komma, 31, a biochemistry student from Kurnool, and Kiran Kumar Allam, 33, a chemistry student from Hyderabad, were found late Thursday after being shot in the head inside an apartment complex for married and graduate students. One was tied up with a computer cable.
Allam’s pregnant wife called police after finding the men dead, said Srinivasa Pothakamuri, a friend of Komma. Komma had been visiting Allam at the time of the shooting.
The killings were the first on campus in more than a decade.
