Pennsylvania

Pa. Researcher ‘on Verge of Making Very Significant' Virus Findings Shot to Death

The Pennsylvania researcher "was on the verge of making very significant findings toward understanding the cellular mechanisms that underlie" COVID-19, his university said

Getty Images Coronaviruses research, conceptual illustration. Vials of blood in a centrifuge being tested for coronavirus infection.

A medical researcher said to be on the "verge of making very significant" coronavirus findings was found shot to death over the weekend in Pennsylvania, officials said.

Bing Liu, 37, a researcher at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, was found dead Saturday inside a home in Ross Township, north of Pittsburgh, the Allegheny County medical examiner said. He had been shot in the head and the neck, the agency said.

An hour after Liu's body was discovered, a second person, Hao Gu, 46, was found dead inside a car less than a mile away, the agency said. Ross Township police Detective Sgt. Brian Kohlhepp told NBC News that the men knew each other. Investigators believe Gu killed Liu before returning to his car, where he died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Authorities are investigating a motive.

"Bing was on the verge of making very significant findings toward understanding the cellular mechanisms that underlie SARS-CoV-2 infection and the cellular basis of the following complications," the University of Pittsburgh said. "We will make an effort to complete what he started in an effort to pay homage to his scientific excellence."

Read the full story on NBCNews.com

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