OAN Staff James Meyers
1:36 PM – Tuesday, August 27, 2024
A student at Rice University in Houston, Texas, was found dead in her dorm room in an apparent murder-suicide, causing the campus to go into an almost two-hour lockdown as students finished their first day of classes, according to police and university officials.
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Andrea Rodriguez Avila, was found by university police after a concerned family member asked for a wellness check and officers saw she had missed class Monday, Rice University Police Chief Clemente Rodriguez said.
She was found alongside a man, who was not a student at the college, in the room with an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound leaving him dead.
In a letter to the Rice community, the school’s Dean of Undergraduates Bridget Gorman confirmed the death of Avila.
“There was no sign of forced entry into her room,” Gorman wrote. “Please be assured that RUPD is working with the Houston Police Department and that our campus is safe.”
Gorman said the community was mourning “the loss of a wonderful person taken from us too soon.”
Investigators found a note form Avila’s suspected shooter, claiming that they believe the man shot her before shooting himself, according to the police chief. The note also revealed that the two had been in a rocky relationship.
The shooter likely accompanied Avila into her residential hall, Jones College, Rodriguez said.
According to the university, the startling discovery caused a campus-wide lockdown beginning around 5:40 p.m. CT, and the cancellation of all classes for the rest of Monday.
The university announced at 7:18 p.m. that the lockdown had been lifted.
Meanwhile, the Rice University Police Department is leading the investigation with the assistance of the Houston Police Department, Houston Police stated.
The university has 11 separate residential colleges. The school’s website describes the system as “spirited communities where students live, dine and interact with peers, faculty, staff and alumni.”
Avila’s parents are communicating with the university and will fly to Houston on Tuesday, according to the university.
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