A tragic murder-suicide incident in Los Altos, California has left two Google employees dead. On January 18th, police were called to conduct a welfare check at an apartment in the 200 block of West Edith Avenue. Upon arrival, officers discovered the bodies of Liren Chen and Xuanyi Yu.
Preliminary investigations indicate that Chen took his own life after shooting Yu inside their home. Both Chen and Yu worked as software engineers at Google. Yu was a graduate of prestigious Tsinghua University and University of California San Diego, where she studied computer science. She had previously been employed as a Software Development Engineer at Amazon.
Chen also graduated from Tsinghua University and UC San Diego, where he earned a degree in computer science. He worked as a Software Engineer at Google's headquarters in Mountain View. Prior to Google, he was employed by self-driving truck startup TuSimple.
Details about the nature of the relationship between Chen and Yu are still emerging. However, friends and colleagues describe them as a young couple working in tech together in the Bay Area.
The Los Altos Police Department is currently conducting a thorough investigation into the circumstances surrounding the incident. Anyone with information has been asked to contact the LAPD tip line.
This tragic loss has sent shockwaves through the tight-knit tech community in Silicon Valley. Both Chen and Yu were highly talented and promising engineers. They will be deeply missed by family, friends and coworkers. Our thoughts are with all those affected by this senseless act of violence.