USC student accused of fatally stabbing suspected burglar near campus

A 19-year-old University of Southern California student was jailed Tuesday after police charged him with the murder of a man suspected of burglarizing cars near the campus, authorities said.

Los Angeles Fire Department paramedics pronounced the victim dead at the scene after responding alongside officers to a report of an assault with a deadly weapon near campus shortly after 8 p.m. Monday, according to a statement from the Department of Fire. Los Angeles Police Department.

Police identified the suspect as Ivan Gallegos, 19, of Los Angeles. USC spokeswoman Lauren Bartlett said the teen was enrolled as a junior studying business administration.

The location of the incident, the 700 block of West 28th Street, is a few blocks north of the University Park campus and the center of Greek Row.

“The male victim was breaking into vehicles at the scene when the suspect confronted and stabbed her,” the LAPD said.

A spokesperson for the Los Angeles County medical examiner said the victim's identity was still being determined and, once that was done, she would be released once the family was notified of her death. death.

Gallegos was booked into the LAPD's 77th Street Division on Tuesday, according to inmate records. Accused of murder by police but not formally charged, Gallegos was being held on $2 million bail, records show.

It was unclear Tuesday afternoon whether the student had retained an attorney. The area public defender's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Police said Gallegos remained at the scene after the confrontation. Jail records indicate he was arrested about a half hour after officers arrived.

USC serves as the gateway to South Los Angeles, the vast part of the city south of the 10 Freeway that is the historic birthplace of West Coast jazz and is now a community that has evolved from 'a predominantly black American to a Latino majority thanks to the effects of immigration in the 1980s and 1990s.

The school has been tough on crime and, through legislation, deploys its own sworn and on-duty police officers to patrol its community just north of the LA Coliseum.

The Los Angeles Police Department's Southern Homicide Division was investigating the incident Monday evening.