Philadelphia police are investigating the murder of Army veteran and Penn student L'Salle Harvey, but have yet to make any arrests or discover a motive.
Harvey was gunned down at 3:10 a.m. on Thursday while riding his bicycle on the 2200 block of North 31st Street. He died of multiple gunshot wounds to the head and body, according to a spokesman from the Philadelphia Police Department.
Police would not comment any further on the circumstances of the murder.
Harvey, 22, lived on the 3300 block of West Diamond Street in North Philadelphia.
He was taking classes at Penn through the Veterans Upward Bound Program, run through the Department of Academic Support Programs. He was not a matriculated student, said Karima Zedan, spokeswoman for Penn's Division of Public Safety.
Veterans can apply to the Veterans Upward Bound program at Penn, which aims to provide 120 participants annually with the "academic instruction and support services required to help them develop the skills necessary for postsecondary success," according to the program's Web site.
Leah Smith, a spokeswoman in the office of the Vice Provost for University Life, said Harvey began taking classes at Penn in early May, had completed his first level of classes and was going to begin his intensive 200-level courses this week.
"He had attended [Veterans Upward Bound] orientation sessions last week and was beginning to interview for jobs," Smith said.
She added that Harvey's ultimate goal was to one day get a Ph.D. in the sciences and become a professor.
"By all accounts, I hear that he was a very active and engaged student. He was very excited about his future," Smith said.
Given the small community within the Veterans Upward Bound program, Harvey's loss has been very hard for his fellow students and teachers.
"He loved life," Smith said. "It's a tragic loss."
