A USC student is being held on suspicion of murder in connection with a Monday night fatal stabbing on Greek Row.
The victim was described as a homeless man in his 30s by the Los Angeles Police Department. He has not been identified by the L.A. county medical examiner.
The suspect, Ivan Gallegos, is a 19-year-old Los Angeles resident, according to an X post by the LAPD Media Relations Division. On Tuesday, his mother confirmed to the L.A. Times that he is a student at USC. Gallegos is a rising junior in the Marshall School of Business, according to his LinkedIn account.
The LAPD said the victim was breaking into cars on the 700 block of West 28th Street, USC’s Greek Row, when Gallegos confronted him. FOX11 Los Angeles reported that Gallegos was accompanied by two friends during the confrontation. Annenberg Media was not able to independently confirm this.
The victim allegedly told Gallegos that he had a gun, Dominic Choi, the LAPD interim chief, told the Police Commission, City News Service reported. No gun was recovered at the scene, a law enforcement source told the L.A. Times.
Police found the victim in an alley between the Delta Tau Delta and Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity houses. He had several stab wounds and was pronounced dead at the scene by Los Angeles Fire Department paramedics.
On Tuesday, a trail of blood was still visible in the Delta Tau Delta parking lot, leading to the alleyway and the Lambda Chi Alpha parking lot. The scene had been cleared, but a DPS officer was seen photographing the blood trail. Media personnel were still present.
Bain Higgins, a Kappa Alpha fraternity member, told Annenberg Media that a national advisor emailed the fraternity about the stabbing. “The news has gotten around quickly and we’ve been reached out [to] to make sure we’re OK,” Higgins said Tuesday. “It was really, really active this morning in terms of gossip.”
Higgins said that Gallegos lived in the Delta Tau Delta fraternity house, behind which the car break-ins occurred.
LAPD responded to what they described as an assault with a deadly weapon with a knife around 8:15 p.m. Monday night, according to the X post. Gallegos was arrested at the scene and is being held on $2 million bail. According to the L.A. Times, the district attorney has not yet brought charges against Gallegos.
Correction: The initial version of the story misidentified the first name of the LAPD interim chief. It has been updated to reflect his correct name as Dominic Choi.