Rice University Shooting: Who was Andrea Rodriguez Avila?

A Rice University student was allegedly fatally shot by her boyfriend, who then turned the gun on himself, in her dorm room on the college’s first day of classes.

The university canceled all classes on Tuesday.

University police conducted a welfare check around 4 p.m. on Monday and found junior Andrea Rodriguez Avila dead in her room at Jones College in Houston. A family member had requested the check after they had not heard from Avila, university police chief Clemente Rodriguez said at a press conference on Monday.

Officials also found a man dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. He was not a Rice University student.

Avila is believed to be from Maryland and the man is possibly from Florida, but that remains under investigation.

Rodriguez said the two were in a “dating relationship.” He said the only way the man could have gotten access to the building was if Avila had permitted him to enter.

Rodriguez told the outlet that police found a note “written by the suspect” in the room.

“In general terms, it was a lot about their relationship, and then obviously they were having a troubled relationship at this time,” he said.

Houston Police Department is leading the investigation, which is being treated as a murder-suicide. They said the female victim was 21 and the male suspect was 22 in a press release, but withheld their identities pending verification by the Harris County Institute of Forensic Sciences.

Anyone with information in this case is asked to contact Houston Police Department’s Homicide Division at 713-308-3600.

“It is with deep sadness and shock that I write to you on what should have been a day filled with promise and new beginnings,” Rice University president Reginald DesRoches said in a statement. “Instead, we find ourselves mourning the loss of one of our own in a tragic event that has shaken our campus to its core.”

He said the campus is safe and there is “no further threat.”

“This is a heartbreaking, devastating incident, and it is important to recognize that this loss will affect our close-knit community in the days and weeks ahead,” DesRoches said.

Resources will be available to university students, faculty and staff affected by the incident.

“In moments like these, our strength, care and resilience as a community are more important than ever,” DesRoches said. “Please take care of yourselves and each other. Let us honor Andrea’s memory by coming together in unity and compassion.”

Rice University is a private research university located in Houston. The school has an enrollment of over 8,600 students. It is one of the most selective universities in the nation, only admitting a record-low 7.5% of applicants for the fall 2024 semester.

Long Island Family Killed in Murder-Suicide

In the northeast, Joseph DeLucia, Jr. was unable to come to terms with losing the home he had lived in for his entire life after the death of his mother.

Instead, he shot four of his family members and later himself in an apparent murder-suicide on Sunday as they waited for a real estate agent to arrive.

Joseph DeLucia, Jr., 59, lived with his 95-year-old mother, Theresa Martha DeLucia, in Syosset, New York.

The woman died on August 19, so the family had planned to meet to discuss the sale of the house.

Joseph DeLucia, Jr. was worried that he would not have a place to live, Nassau County officials said at a press conference on Monday.

Officials responded to the home for a report of shots fired at around noon. Police found 69-year-old Joann Kearns, 64-year-old Frank DeLucia, 64-year-old Tina Hammond and 30-year-old Victoria Hammond fatally shot in the rear den of the residence. The victims were the siblings and niece of Joseph DeLucia, Jr.

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