Student with big dreams found murdered in dormitory

HOUSTON (KTRK) — A Rice University student is being remembered after she was murdered in her dorm room Monday.

According to police, the shooting was a murder-suicide.

On the first day of the fall semester, Andrea Rodriguez, a junior political science major filled with big dreams, was shot and killed in her dorm room at Jones College by a young man she had been dating.

Those in his department say they are reeling.

“The people who helped her, the people who were teachers for her, the people who just, you know, the people in the department who talked to her, you know, about work-related issues, there were so many people who were associated with her. So at least my department is really surprised,” said Pamela De La Cruz.

Rodriguez’s friends said she was motivated to succeed.

From humble beginnings at her local community college in Maryland, she spent a summer at Johns Hopkins University before enrolling at Rice last January, where she quickly joined student government and was an academic adviser in the dorm where she died.

“It was shocking. I’m really sad for my friends at Jones,” said freshman Diego Delgado.

For Delgado and his friend, gun violence shook their sense of serenity at a university known for its lush, calm surroundings.

But they said the university responded quickly.

“I found a lot of support from my seniors and the counselors here,” Ghoyh Malembi said. “They all provided a safe space for people to come and talk about the situation.”

Houston police lead the investigation as the campus finds a way to move forward without Rodriguez, a young woman with big dreams.

“There were graduate students who said they felt horrible when they saw her, they recognized her name, that they had taught her last year, they had taught her last semester and they were going to teach her this semester,” De La Cruz said.

The identity of the shooter has not been released, but he was not a student.

Investigators said they believe he took his own life after shooting Rodriguez.

University police said they found a note believed to have been left by the shooter.

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