MIT Student Suspected in Killing of Yale Student Arrested in Alabama

A Massachusetts man suspected of killing a Yale graduate student in February has been arrested in Alabama, according to the U.S. Marshals Service.

They said the U.S. Marshals Gulf Coast Regional Fugitive Task Force, the U.S. Marshals Middle District of Alabama and the Montgomery Police Department arrested Qinxuan Pan.

He was taken into custody without incident in Montgomery Friday morning.

“The successful apprehension of Qinxuan Pan this morning in Montgomery, Alabama, marks the culmination of countless hours of investigation and is a testament to the dedication of all the investigators involved,” said Lawrence Bobnick, acting U.S. Marshal for the District of Connecticut. “The unwavering commitment of the men and women supporting this operation was truly remarkable."

The U.S. Marshals had launched a nationwide search for Pan.

New Haven Police Department

He was initially wanted for questioning in connection to the death of 26-year-old Kevin Jiang, a Yale graduate student. In late February, New Haven police said they had secured an arrest warrant charging him with murder.

Jiang was found on Saturday, Feb. 6, lying outside of his car on Lawrence Street in New Haven. He had several gunshot wounds and he was pronounced dead at the scene.

Jiang was a graduate student at the Yale School of the Environment and he was set to graduate next year, police said.

Two months after the murder of Jiang, the search for Pan became an international manhunt, NBC News reported.

Police said Pan visited car dealerships in Connecticut and Massachusetts, looking to purchase a small model SUV and even asked to test drive vehicles, before the shooting.

On the day of the shooting, Pan stole a car in Mansfield, Massachusetts before driving to Connecticut, according to a police report.

The report said Pan took a blue GMC Terrain for a test drive on Feb. 6 and never returned it to the dealership.

According to the Mansfield police report, Pan left the dealership with the car at around 11 a.m. When a salesman called him at 5:30 p.m. to ask when he would be returning, Pan allegedly asked for more time, saying he had a family emergency, then stopped responding to texts and phone calls.

He also allegedly put a commercial Connecticut license plate on the vehicle to conceal its identity, the New Haven Register reported.

Pan's last known address is in Malden, Massachusetts, and he is a graduate of MIT.

Police didn’t say whether Pan and Jiang had an existing relationship. However, MIT officials said Pan has been enrolled as a graduate student at the university since 2014. Jiang's fiancée graduated from MIT in 2020.

The U.S. Marshals said Pan was seen on Feb. 11 driving with family members in Brookhaven, Georgia and he was carrying a black backpack and acting strange.

Police were investigating whether Jiang was targeted as a result of road rage following a car accident, however, authorities have not confirmed a motive.

U.S. Marshals offered a $10,000 cash reward for information leading to Pan's arrest.