Palmdale teen among pair arrested in connection with killing of two USC students

Two men -- one from Palmdale, the other from Los Angeles -- were arrested today in connection with the fatal shootings of two USC graduate students from China.

An arrest team descended upon a residence in South Los Angeles around 4:30 p.m. and arrested Bryan Barnes, 20, of Los Angeles, police said.

Immediately after Barnes' arrest, the arrest teams boarded two awaiting helicopters and flew to Palmdale where 19-year-old Javier Bolden of Palmdale was taken into custody around 7:30 p.m., police said.

Barnes and Bolden were booked into the 77th Street Jail where they will be held without bail, police said.

Xiyong Wu and Ming Qu, both 23-year-old electrical engineering students from China, were fatally shot during a downpour about 1 a.m. on April 11 while sitting in Qu's recently purchased 2003 BMW, which was double-parked off-campus in the 2700 block of Raymond Avenue.

Wu was found in the passenger seat and Qu on the steps of a nearby house where he collapsed while trying to summon help, police said.

The Los Angeles Times reported SWAT officers went into a bright blue two-story house in the 1200 block of 91st Street and came out soon after with a man in handcuffs. A 19-year-old woman living in a nearby apartment was taken into custody as well.

Police told The Times Barnes and Bolden did not have extensive criminal records and were not recorded as gang members, but robbery may have been the motive in the killings.