Police: Dispute over ‘intimate partner’ led to killing of Pitt coronavirus researcher
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The recent murder-suicide in Ross Township that left two men dead from gunshot wounds was the result of a long-running dispute over an intimate partner, according to investigators.
Bing Liu, 37, was shot to death inside his condominium at The Mews of Town North shortly after noon May 2.
He was a researcher at the University of Pittsburgh’s School of Medicine, where he had been involved in coronavirus research, according to the university.
Police say Liu was inside his home along Elm Court when he was shot multiple times by Hao Gu, 46, of Pittsburgh.
Liu died from gunshot wounds to head, neck, torso and extremities, according to investigators. His death was ruled a homicide by the Allegheny County Medical Examiner.
Gu was found in his car near Liu’s home, dead from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head, according to police.
The medical examiner ruled Gu’s death a suicide.
Investigators said Liu’s role as a researcher did not play a role in the murder-suicide.
“We have found zero evidence that this tragic event has anything to do with employment at the University of Pittsburgh, any work being conducted at the University of Pittsburgh and the current health crisis affecting the United States and the world,” said Ross Det. Sgt. Brian Kohlhepp.
Liu was a research assistant professor in the Computational and Systems Biology department at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, where his area of expertise was computational modeling and analysis of biological system dynamics.
Posts on social media praised him as a “prolific researcher” and “an excellent mentor.”
Because both men were not United States citizens, police will forward its review of the case to federal authorities, Kohlhepp said.