(RICHMOND, SC) — A Lebanese professor from the University of South Carolina was shot to death by his ex-wife in a murder-suicide on the fourth floor of a campus building, according to Richland County Coroner Gary Watts.
Dr. Raja Fayad, 45, died of multiple gunshot wounds to his upper body inflicted by his ex-wife Sunghee Kwon, 46, whom he continued to live with after their divorce.
Fayad, a graduate of the Aleppo University School of Medicine in Syria, was the head of applied physiology at the University of South Carolina. Media reports say Fayad traveled to Lebanon each summer to visit his mother.
Fayad and Kwon reportedly moved to South Carolina from Illinois in 2008, after USC hired him from the University of Illinois-Chicago.
According to students, he was a highly regarded and well-liked professor and an expert in colon cancer at the Arnold School of Public Health.
“He was an excellent teacher and highly respected by his university colleagues,” said Harris Pastides, president of the university. “I would like to thank the university’s extended family from around the country who have been in touch with us to express their sympathy.”
Neighbors were shocked of the news and described Fayad as a “great person.”
“Every time I saw him he had a pleasant look on his face,” neighbor Carl Council said.
Larry Durstine, department chair in exercise science at the university, helped recruit Fayad to USC.
“He always raised spirits of those around him,” Durstine told South Carolina-based newspaper, The State. “As department chair, you’re not supposed to let them know when your spirits are down. But Raj could tell when I was down, and he’s say ‘Let’s go for a walk.'”
Durstine said Fayad often organized birthday parties and award celebrations for co-workers.
“He was one of the nicest guys I’ve ever known,” Durstine said.
Police say Fayad was shot with a Hi-Point 9 mm semi-automatic.