Student Fatally Shot By Harasser, Police Say 19-Year-Old Victim Had Reported Former Friend To School Officials

Rex Chao and Robert Harwood were both exceptional students at Johns Hopkins University, activists in the campus Republican club, and friends.

But when Chao ended the friendship last year - because Harwood was becoming too possessive, according to Chao’s father - Harwood began making harassing phone calls and sending Chao obscene electronic mail messages.

Wednesday night, Harwood fatally shot Chao after a College Republicans meeting where Harwood tried to block Chao’s election as chairman, according to police.

Chao, 19, of Port Washington, N.Y., an intern in the office of Rep. Susan Molinari, R-N.Y., and an accomplished violinist, was shot in the head and chest.

Harwood, 22, a chemistry major from Hopkinton, R.I., where he was the valedictorian of his high school class, was charged with first-degree murder.

He was being held pending arraignment Thursday, police said.

“Our entire university community is deeply wounded by the events of last night,” said Daniel Nathans, the university’s interim president. “It’s clearly one of the most terrible occurrences in the history of the university.”

Robert Chao said his son tried to end his friendship with Harwood when the senior became too controlling and possessive, but Harwood began harassing him with phone calls and e-mail messages.

“It’s like he wants Rex to be his only friend,” Robert Chao said.

When Harwood wouldn’t stop, Chao approached the university’s dean of students, who told security to protect Chao from Harwood, Robert Chao said.

A friend of both students also said Harwood had been harassing Chao.

“He definitely has been acting very weird lately. He’d been harassing Rex. He made a lot of nasty phone calls to him, sent a lot of obscene e-mail messages,” said Neil Sander, who served as College Republicans chairman between Harwood and Chao.

Harwood, who finished his course work in December, was scheduled to graduate in May and had been living in Rhode Island, said Dennis O’Shea, a university spokesman.

University officials said they were approached by both Chao and Harwood earlier this year about their differences. Harwood agreed to notify them whenever he returned to the campus, and had done so regarding the Wednesday night meeting, O’Shea said.

“There was never any indication of any intent to do any kind of physical harm,” O’Shea said.