Davide Giri, 30, a PhD student in Computer Science at Columbia University after studying Engineering at the Turin Polytechnic, was stabbed to death not far from the university campus. He was identified among the first by the dean of the university.
Giri was killed around 11pm at 123rd Street and Amsterdam Avenue, near Morningside Park. The 25-year-old who killed him was stopped by police in Central Park. Shortly after attacking Giri, the boy also stabbed a 27-year-old tourist identified by the New York Times as Italian.
The identity of the victim was later confirmed by diplomatic sources. The assailant is a man from Queens, a member of the Every Body Killer gang. Since 2012, he has already been arrested at least 11 times for robberies and other crimes, the New York Post reports citing some sources.
Giri’s stabbing took place one block from Morningside Park, where Barnard University student Tessa Majors was stabbed to death in 2019. “I am writing to you with deep sadness to share the tragic news that Davide Giri, a student of the School of Engineering and Applied Science, was killed in a violent attack near the campus on Thursday evening,” Columbia President Lee Bollinger wrote in an email to students. “This is sad and shocking news,” he added.
Davide Giri was originally from Alba, in the Cuneo area. In the town known worldwide for its white truffle, the thirty-year-old – the online version of the Gazzetta di Alba announced – was well known for his volunteer activities carried out with the parish of Santa Margherita in Musotto. Giri had studied at the Polytechnic of Turin, also earning his doctorate, and was in New York for a master’s in engineering and applied sciences.