A man named as a person of interest in the murder of a Yale University student is believed to be staying in the Atlanta area, according to the U.S. Marshals Service.
Qinxuan Pan, 29, is wanted for questioning in the case surrounding the murder of Yale student Kevin Jiang, the Marshals Service said in a news release. Jiang was shot in New Haven, Connecticut, on Saturday.
Pan is believed to be staying with friends or family in the Brookhaven or Duluth area, the statement said.
Pan is a graduate student at MIT, the same graduate school from which Jiang’s fiancee graduated in 2020, according to The New York Times. The New Haven Police Department has not released any details about connections between Pan, Jiang and his fiancee, 22-year-old Zion Perry. New Haven police told the Times they believed Pan was “in the area” of the shooting that resulted in Jiang’s death.
The shooting appears to have been “targeted” toward Jiang and could have been the result of a road-rage incident, New Haven police said, according to the New York Post.
In their attempts to locate Pan, authorities have charged him with several counts, including unlawful flight to avoid prosecution and interstate theft of a vehicle. Pan’s last known location in Connecticut was at a Best Western hotel in North Haven, where a general manager said he checked in Saturday hours after Jiang was found dead, NBC Connecticut reported.
Pan never checked out and the room appeared to be untouched, the hotel employee said.
According to the U.S. marshals’ release, Pan was last seen Thursday driving with family members in either Brookhaven or Duluth. He was carrying a black backpack and acting strangely, his family told authorities.
Jiang was a U.S. Army veteran who was on track to finish his graduate studies at Yale in the fall of 2021, according to the Times. He had recently gotten engaged to Perry, a Ph.D. candidate in biophysics at MIT. The two met at a church retreat and bonded through their shared Christian faith, the Times reported.
“He had a really big heart and always wanted the best for other people. He was involved in so many things. He was in the military, he was a tank driver, he did salsa dancing, he played the piano. He loved the outdoors, fishing, hiking. God gave him a really amazing life,” Perry told WTNH-TV.
The U.S. Marshals Service is offering a cash reward of up to $5,000 for information leading to the direct arrest of Pan. Any information will be considered confidential. Anyone with information is asked to call 1-877-926-8332.
Authorities say Pan should be considered armed and dangerous and urge anyone who sees him to avoid contact and call 911.
— Please return to AJC.com for updates.
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