Police say a person of interest in the slaying of a Yale graduate student this month stole a car in Massachusetts on the day of the killing
NEW HAVEN, Conn. — A person of interest in the slaying of a Yale graduate student this month stole a car on the day of the killing before driving to Connecticut, according to a police report.
The report filed by police in Mansfield, Massachusetts, alleged Qinxuan Pan took a blue GMC Terrain for a test drive from a dealership on Feb. 6 and never returned it. Pan also allegedly put a commercial Connecticut license plate on the vehicle to conceal its identity, the New Haven Register reported.
The 29-year-old Pan has not been identified as a suspect but is considered a person of interest in the killing of 26-year-old Kevin Jiang, who was shot multiple times and found lying outside his car on a New Haven street.
Police have said they believe Pan was in the area at the time of the shooting, the newspaper reported.
Jiang, a Seattle native, had recently gotten engaged to be married. He earned a bachelor’s degree in environmental studies at the University of Washington and was an Army veteran and Army National Guard member, according to his LinkedIn page and Yale officials. In the Army, he was a tank operator and a chemical, biological, radiation and nuclear officer, according to Yale.
Police have said Pan, an MIT graduate, was seen in the Atlanta area several days after Jiang’s killing and should be considered dangerous. The U.S. Marshals Service has offered a reward for information leading to his location.
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. He then stopped responding to texts and phone calls.
Pan faces an arrest warrant for larceny.
A telephone number for Pan’s home in Malden, Massachusetts, had been disconnected as of Friday, the newspaper reported.
