A medical researcher who was reportedly close to making important findings on the coronavirus has been found shot dead in a home just outside of Pittsburgh. NBC News reports that 37-year-old Bing Liu, who worked at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, was found dead with a bullet wound in his head and neck. Just an hour after Liu's body was discovered, 46-year-old Hao Gu was found dead inside a car around a mile away from where Liu was found.
Authorities believe that the second man, Gu, killed Liu and later died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound in his car. Ross Township police detective Sgt. Brian Kohlhepp said law enforcement is still investigating the possible relationship between the two men and a motive for the killing.
As CNN points out, police believe there was "zero indication that there was targeting to his [Liu] being Chinese."
Liu, who earned a PhD in computational science at the National University of Singapore, previously worked at Carnegie Mellon University before he became a research associate at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. "Bing was on the verge of making very significant findings toward understanding the cellular mechanisms that underlie SARS-CoV-2 infection and the cellular basis of the following complications," the University of Pittsburgh said in a statement. "We will make an effort to complete what he started in an effort to pay homage to his scientific excellence. "
