Wounded Japanese Student Dies

CONCORD, Calif. — A Japanese exchange student who was shot twice in the back of the head died Saturday, shortly after his parents arrived from Japan.

Masakazu Kuriyama, 25, died at John Muir Medical Center in Walnut Creek, where paramedics took him after two passersby found him near a Concord transit station. Investigators have no suspects or motive in the case.

His parents were with the young man when doctors took him off life support systems, said Steve Durkee of the host family with whom Kuriyama stayed.

Police Officer Joseph Kriens said authorities “haven’t ruled out anything, including a hate crime.” But he said Kuriyama may have been the victim of a robbery gone awry.

The student was found with his portable radio, backpack, $140 in cash and credit cards in his wallet.

The shooting was treated as the top news story of the day on Japanese television and was reported prominently in several national newspapers. The case reminded Japanese of the October shooting death of a 16-year-old exchange student in Baton Rouge, La., when he was looking for a Halloween party.