Grad student killed 3 hours after arriving in Chicago; surveillance images show possible suspects



CHICAGO – Police have released surveillance images in hopes of finding the people responsible for killing a Northwestern graduate student who had just arrived in Chicago to start a doctoral program.

The images capture three people running through the Bank of America parking lot on Clark Street, south of Howard on Sunday night.

Police said 25-year-old Shane Columbo was an innocent victim caught in the crossfire around 8:30 p.m. Sunday when two men started shooting. Columbo, who was waiting at a bus stop near Howard Avenue and Clark Street, was struck and killed.



Columbo was from Arizona but was about to begin doctoral work at Northwestern University on a scholarship.

His mother, Tonya Colombo, traveled from California to Chicago to claim his body, and said her son had arrived in the city just three hours before the shooting.

Columbo’s fiancé Vincent Perez said he and Columbo considered the issue of crime and murder in Chicago when they moved here.

The school issued a statement condemning the killing, and offering condolences to Colombo's family.

Many members of our Northwestern University community live in that area and we condemn this awful and senseless act of violence and mourn the passing of Shane, a promising student who was to join our psychology Ph.D. program this fall.  We offer our condolences and kindest thoughts to his family and friends and all who knew him.  This is a terrible loss for our community and we all feel grief and heartbreak for Shane and his loved ones.