Slaying of Chinese student in Chicago spurs call for action

CHICAGO (AP) — The University of Chicago’s president is urging city officials and police to treat Chicago’s rising violence as a “public health crisis” following the fatal shooting of a Chinese student during an armed robbery near campus. Twenty-four-year-old Shaoxiong “Dennis” Zheng was shot in a residential area Tuesday. The Chicago Sun-Times reports witnesses said a gunman stepped from a car and Zheng appeared to struggle with the robber before a shot went off. University of Chicago President Paul Alivisatos said Wednesday in a statement expressing sadness over Zheng’s killing that the university community and local residents “see a clear and urgent need to strengthen public safety.”