A suspect was shot and is in custody after allegedly robbing a group of four USC students at gunpoint.
LAPD officer Sara Faden told The Huffington Post that 24-year-old Jeremy Hendricks has been arrested for the 12:30 a.m. robbery near USC campus early Wednesday morning.
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According to police reports, Hendricks approached four students on 30th Street and Figueroa Street, just a few blocks away from the north end of campus and near Sorority Row. He pulled out a gun to demand their property, and after the victims handed everything over, Hendricks ran away.
Two of the male victims gave chase and were able to catch the attention of a USC public safety officer, who continued the pursuit alone.
Several times during the chase, according to Officer Faden, the public safety officer caught sight of Hendrick's gun. The pursuit ended in a confrontation, and Hendricks was shot by the officer.
The robbery at gunpoint comes just one week after two Chinese grad students were shot and killed in what is believed to be a carjacking attempt.
So far, LAPD are still searching for tips leading to the arrest of a suspect in that case, and both USC and the City of Los Angeles have offered rewards totaling $200,000 for information leading to a conviction.
Officer Faden could not confirm that the two shooting cases were related.
Violent crime has decreased 20 percent this year, but USC has been plagued with student murder in its recent past. In 2008, 23-year-old Bryan Frost was stabbed to death after a fight.
UPDATE: The two USC students who chased armed robbery suspect Jeremy Hendricks were unharmed during the robbery and pursuit, but things could have turned fatal quickly if Hendricks had decided to fire his gun, said LAPD officer Chris Lata.
The two men are "very brave and very lucky," said Officer Lata, "but we don't recommend what they did."
Instead, police advise robbery victims to simply follow instructions, especially if the suspect has a gun. "Nothing that you have in your possession is worth your life," Officer Lata continued.
Instead of trying to fight back or pursue a suspect, "try to focus on what [the suspect] looks like and what he's wearing," said Officer Lata. After it's over, call the police as soon as possible.
Officer Lata also noted that the same detectives that are investigating last week's shooting deaths Ming Qu and Ying Wu are also handling this morning's case.
Hendricks was taken to the hospital with a gunshot to the leg and is being booked for investigation of robbery and assault with a deadly weapon, the LAPD told the Associated Press. His a criminal record includes robbery and burglary, and Hendricks may have been on probation at the time of the shooting.
A memorial for Ming Qu and Ying Wu is scheduled for Wednesday evening at the Shrine Auditorium.
CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story had inaccurate information about Hendrick's gunshot wound. He was shot in the leg, not the stomach, reports the Associated Press.
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