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A suspect has been taken into custody, report says

Slain professor Bosco Tjan joined University of Southern California faculty in 2001

CNN  — 

A student fatally stabbed a University of Southern California psychology professor Friday afternoon, officials said.

The professor, identified as Bosco Tjan in a letter released by the university, was pronounced dead at the scene by the Los Angeles Police Department.

A 911 call came in to authorities around 4:30 p.m. Friday, Los Angeles police Detective Meghan Aguilar told CNN affiliate KABC-TV. When USC officers arrived, they found the victim suffering multiple stab wounds and a male suspect still on the scene, she said.

The suspect was taken into custody and transported to a local police station, according to Aguilar. Information on a motive wasn’t immediately available, but police told the station they believe the attack was not random.

“This victim was targeted by the suspect so the safety of this campus is not in question,” Aguilar told KABC.

The stabbing happened in the Seeley G. Mudd Building on the last day of classes before final exams.

Tjan was an expert in the field of perception, vision and vision cognition who had been affiliated with the university since 2001. He was the co-director of the Dornsife Cognitive Neuroimaging Center, which he helped found in 2005, according to USC’s student paper, the Daily Trojan. Tjan held a doctorate in computer science from the University of Minnesota. He was married and the father of one son, according to CNN affiliate KTLA-TV.

“As the Trojan Family mourns Professor Tjan’s untimely passing, we will keep his family in our thoughts,” university President C.L. Max Nikias wrote to the USC community.

Varun Soni, the university’s dean of religious life, will lead an on-campus gathering for reflection and prayer Monday.