Coronavirus researcher killed in Pennsylvania murder-suicide, police say



A University of Pittsburgh researcher on the cusp of creating “very significant findings” about the novel coronavirus was killed over the weekend in what authorities say was a murder-suicide.

Bing Liu, 37, was shot multiple times in his townhouse around noon Saturday in Ross Township, Pa., police told WTAE, an ABC affiliate in Pittsburgh.

As a search professor , Liu focused on using computational models to review biological processes. He was performing from home during the pandemic and studying the virus, his supervisor said, consistent with the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

Officials told the newspaper Liu was shot by another man and suffered gunshot wounds to the top , neck, torso and extremities. The man, later identified as 46-year-old Hao Gu, then got into his car about 100 yards away and killed himself.


Neighbors told the paper they didn’t hear any gunshots the day Liu was killed.

The front and rear patio doors of Liu’s home were open at the time of his death due to the springtime weather, the Post-Gazette reported. His wife wasn’t home at that point .


No items were stolen from the house , consistent with the paper.

Ross Township Detective Brian Kohlhepp told WTAE that police don’t believe the connection between the 2 men had anything to try to to with Liu’s research on the coronavirus.

It is unclear how the 2 men knew one another , and police are investigating whether there was any confrontation before the shooting. A possible motive for the murder is also unclear, the Post-Gazette reported.

In a statement, Liu’s department at the University of Pittsburgh School of drugs called him a prolific researcher and generous mentor. Shortly before his death, he had begun researching the cellular mechanisms that underlie coronavirus infections and therefore the cellular basis of ensuing complications.

Ivet Bahar, his supervisor and therefore the head of his department, told the Post-Gazette Liu had just began to receive interesting results.

Bahar had sent several emails to Liu over the weekend about his work and was surprised that the normally prompt researcher wasn’t responding, consistent with the Post-Gazette.

After a conversation with a colleague about the crime, she confirmed Liu was the victim, the paper reported. He had not expressed any fear for his life to her, she told the paper.

“We will make an attempt to finish what he started in an attempt to pay homage to his scientific excellence,” the statement said.

Liu and his wife had no children and mostly kept to themselves, neighbors told the Post-Gazette.

Liu received his bachelor’s and doctoral degrees from the National University of Singapore, consistent with his professional website. He had previously worked as a postdoctoral fellow within the department of computing at Carnegie Mellon University and with Bahar as a search associate within the department of computational and systems biology at the University of Pittsburgh School of drugs .