The death of a Syracuse University student murdered in DeWitt triggers an outpouring of sorrow on social media

Friends of a Syracuse University student who was murdered in DeWitt on Friday have expressed an outpouring of grief and sorrow on social media.

Xiaopeng “Pippen” Yuan, 23, a junior at SU, was found dead behind an apartment complex in the town of DeWitt on Friday afternoon. Local authorities said they received 911 calls  from residents in the Springfield Garden Apartments  on Caton  Drive  who reported they heard gunshots in the area.

Posts on Yuan’s Facebook account show his friends leaving messages, posting pictures and sharing articles reporting his death.

“Pip, you will always be my brother. I love you man, rest easy,” wrote SU alumnus John Buckel who also posted photos of Yuan smiling with three children and him with his friends.

Perez Shaw, a junior in the David B. Falk College of Sport and Human Dynamics, recalled he saw Yuan in the gym shortly before his death and wrote he is in disbelief.

Yuan had posted numerous pictures on social media of him with friends, sitting on top of a Chevrolet Camaro sports car with a license plate that says “SWAG PIP” and standing next to the car on Marshall Street.

The last picture of Yuan posted on his Weibo account, which is a Chinese social media platform, was from Thursday, the day before he was found dead. The picture showed him with a group of friends on a basketball court. Almost 2,000 comments were left on his last post expressing condolences, often with a red candle emoji, which is the color associated with auspiciousness in Chinese culture.

“RIP Pippen, We will miss you forever,” one user wrote.