A GW student shot and killed himself after seriously wounding a female University of Maryland student in a College Park, Md., parking garage Friday afternoon.
The male student, Ki-Seong Kim, 21, of Maryland, was pronounced dead several hours after the shooting. The female, 20, also of Maryland, was in “grave” condition as of noon Sunday, said Cpl. Robert Clark, public information officer for the Prince George’s County Police Department. The woman was airlifted from the scene and is being treated at the Washington Hospital Center.
Hospital officials declined to release the woman’s name.
Kim, a GW sophomore, pulled his vehicle into the parking garage near the Comcast Center basketball arena just after 12:30 p.m. Friday, Clark said. He said Kim parked right behind the female’s car, exited his vehicle and “exchange(d) a few words” with the victim. Kim pulled out a semiautomatic handgun and shot the female in the head while she was seated in her car. Kim then shot himself.
Xiomara Larios, a Maryland sophomore, said she was in the parking garage when the shooting occurred.
“I heard a noise but I didn’t realize it was a shooting going on,” Larios told The Hatchet. “I never thought it was going to be something like that.”
Larios said she saw a motionless body in a pool of blood lying next to a black car, which was obstructing the path of another car. She said she couldn’t remember any other details about the shooting.
Kim, a City Hall resident, reportedly dated the female, several friends confirmed. Kim was an international business major who transferred to GW last spring, said Gretchen King, GW’s director of Media Relations. He was also a member of the Hope Bible Study group, she said.
“This is a sad and tragic event and we extend our thoughts and prayers to the young woman, her family and the friends and family of Ki-Seong Kim,” King said.
University President Stephen Joel Trachtenberg was unavailable for comment this weekend.
King confirmed that GW sent grief counselors to City Hall Saturday afternoon. A University Police officer was checking GWorld IDs at the City Hall front desk throughout the afternoon Saturday.
Jung Kang, a Hope Bible Study adviser, said Kim transferred from the University of Maryland last spring. Kang confirmed that Kim knew the female.
Hope Bible Study held a vigil in the Marvin Center Sunday night to commemorate the life of Kim and pray for the shooting victim. More than 50 students attended the event, bowing their heads in prayer as they struggled with the pain brought on by Friday’s tragedy.
“I was shocked – it was completely out of the blue,” sophomore Peter Hersey said Saturday.
Kim’s funeral will be held at 7 p.m. Monday night at Hines Rinaldi Funeral Home in Silver Springs, Md., Kang said Sunday.
