Images Of Suspects Released In Shooting Of Northwestern Student

CHICAGO — Police released images captured from surveillance cameras of two people believed to be involved in an exchange of gunfire Sunday evening in Rogers Park that left an incoming Northwestern University doctoral student dead.

Shane Colombo, a native of California who had just moved to Evanston from New York, had been walking shortly before 8:30 p.m. in the 7500 block of Clark Street when two men began shooting at each other, authorities said.

The promising 25-year-old student was fatally struck by stray bullet and was pronounced dead less than an hour later.

Chicago police detectives from Area North are investigating the shooting. Tuesday, police released images from Gateway Plaza showing several people running through a bank parking lot on the west side of Clark Street. Police said they "participated in" the fatal shooting and asked the public for help identifying them.

"The slightest bit of information can help detectives with this investigation," police spokesperson Anthony Gugliemi said in Tuesday night post to social media. Anyone who recognizes any of the people pictured (above) was asked to contact police. Tips can be sent anonymously to CPDtip.com, he said.

Colombo had been due to begin his studies in Northwestern's PhD program in psychology and biology with a full scholarship after spending two years running a neuroscience lab at Columbia University, the Chicago Tribune reported. After graduating from San Francisco State University, he took part in a program at Columbia, a professor told the paper, that supports talented young scientists from underrepresented communities.

Fiancee Vincent Perez said he and Colombo had finalized the purchase of a new condo in Evanston less than two weeks before his death, according to WBBM-AM. Colombo had arrived in Chicago less than three hours before he found himself caught between two people shooting, according to the station. The Cook County Medical Examiner's office ruled Colombo's death a homicide caused by multiple gunshot wounds.

"This is a terrible loss for our community, and we all feel grief and heartbreak for Shane and his loved ones," said Northwestern President Mort Schapiro.

A survivor of cancer in high school, Colombo had been heading home on his first day in the city when he was caught in the crossfire of gang violence while waiting for a bus home to their new home, according to a GoFundMe established to help Colombo's family bring his body back to California.

More: Northwestern Grad Student Fatally Shot In Rogers Park Crossfire »