Student Shot to Death at Rice University in Apparent Murder-Suicide

A junior at the Houston school, she was found dead in her room alongside the body of her suspected shooter, who died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Students walk to class at Rice University in Houston on Aug. 29, 2022. Brandon Bell/Getty Images

A female student at Rice University in Houston was found shot to death in her dorm room on Monday, along with the body of a suspect believed to be her boyfriend, according to police and university officials.

Rice University President Reginald DesRoches said that Andrea Rodriguez Avila, a junior, was found dead in her dorm room at about 4:30 p.m. when university police responded to a request for a welfare check.

DesRoches said that police also found an unidentified man, who has no affiliation with the university, dead in the room from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. The man is suspected to have been Avila’s shooter.

“This is a speech that no president ever wants to make,” DesRoches said during a press briefing, expressing that he was “heartbroken.”

“Tonight, I want all of our students, our parents, and the entire Rice community to know that the Rice campus is safe and there is no immediate threat, and tonight we will wrap our arms around our students,” he said.

DesRoches said the university was in touch with Avila’s parents and that they will fly to Houston on Tuesday.

Campus Chief of Police Clemente Rodriguez said they decided to check on Avila after a family member requested a welfare check, and police found that Avila had not shown up at her class on Monday.

Investigators also found a note written by the suspect, indicating that he shot Avila before taking his own life. Rodriguez said the note suggested the two had a troubled romantic relationship.

The chief said the man, who may be from Florida, likely gained access to Rice’s Jones College residential hall by accompanying Avila into the building.

“So [it’s] either you have to know the student and be an invited guest, or else you shouldn’t be able to access the building because we have access control in all the colleges,” Rodriguez said.

The case prompted a campus-wide lockdown. All students were urged to stay in their rooms and staff were instructed to “shelter in place” until the alert was lifted. All Tuesday classes and activities were canceled.

In his message to the university community, DesRoches said that students can access resources to help them cope with this “horrific event.”

“We encourage you to come together as a community, spend time with each other to mourn, and use the campus resources available for counseling,” he said.