Via Facebook
Residents in New Haven, Connecticut called police after hearing at least seven gunshots go off Saturday night. Shortly after, emergency responders declared Yale graduate student Kevin Jiang dead after unsuccessful attempts to revive him.
The New Haven Independent reports police found the School of Environment student near his Prius which had sustained rear end damage.
Authorities are looking into whether a crash occurred prior to the shooting.
Just last week, he had gotten engaged to Zion Perry.
“Kevin was and is a gift from God,” she wrote in an email to the Yale Daily News. “He was a true and righteous man after God’s own heart. Life is so precious and short. My only hope is that he is with his Heavenly Father now in perfect peace.”
Jiang became active in the campus Christian Union shortly after arriving on campus. He comes from Seattle and planned to graduate in environmental sciences in 2022. According to the Independent, he also volunteered at the Trinity Baptist Church.
Heavy reports Jiang served in the army as a tank operator and listed membership in the Army National Guard on his LinkedIn profile.
“My office has been in close contact with members of Kevin’s family. I wish to convey to them and to all others who loved Kevin my sincere condolences,” Yale University President Peter Salovey said in a statement. “Kevin was an extraordinary young man; the School of the Environment will be holding a community gathering later today and will be planning additional remembrance events that will be posted on the school’s website.”
The minister at Trinity Baptist Church had agreed to officiate Jiang’s wedding.
“Now, we will be officiating his funeral instead,” pastor Greg Hendrickson said to the Independent. “As a community, we are grieving deeply right now. But Kevin lived by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and in his promise of the resurrection from the dead. Though his earthly life was cut short, he used the time that he had on earth to the fullest. His example inspires us to do the same.”
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