(ANSA) - ROME, DEC 3 - A Columbia University Italian student
was stabbed to death Thursday evening not far from the campus of
the elite New York university, the dean said Friday.
The dean identified the victim as Davide Giri, 30, a student
doing doctoral research after graduating at the Politecnico
University in Turin.
Giri was reportedly attacked at about 11 o'clock in the evening
at the intersection between 123rd Street and Amsterdam Avenue,
near Morningside Park.
His 25-year-old assailant was arrested in Central Park.
Shortly after stabbing Giri, he also stabbed another man,
identified by the New York Times as a 27-year-old Italian
tourist.
Diplomatic sources said the attacker was a man from Queens, a
member of the Every Body Killer gang.
Since 2012 he has been arrested at least 11 times for robbery
and other crimes, the New York Post said citing local sources.
"I write you with deep sadness to share the tragic news that
Davide Giri, a student at the School of Engineering and Applied
Science, was killed in a violent attack near the campus on
Thursday night, Columbia Dean Lee Bollinger emailed students.
"It is sad and shocking news".
Giri was from Alba near Cuneo in northern Italy, a town famed
for its white truffle fair. The Gazzetta di Alba online
newspaper said he was well known for his volunteer work with the
Santa Margherita diocese at Musotto. (ANSA).