A USC film student died of stab wounds suffered in a fight several blocks north of the campus early Thursday, just two weeks after a pair of sexual assaults prompted police to issue a university-wide public safety warning.
Bryan Richard Frost, 23, an Idaho native and a student in the School of Cinematic Arts, was walking with two other students past a gated apartment complex near 28th Street and Orchard Avenue about 2:30 a.m. when the struggle occurred, authorities said.
The students may have rattled a gate, triggering an argument with a man in the complex, officials said. "The argument escalated into a physical fight," said Los Angeles Police Officer Kate Lopez. "The victim ended up getting stabbed."
The attacker fled. Frost was pronounced dead at California Hospital Medical Center. No arrests have been made.
The death, coming so soon after the start of the academic year, touched off a wave of grief and anxiety. Students are demanding improved security along off-campus streets that are home to fraternities and student apartments.
"We spend a lot of money to go here, we think it should be safe," said Celeste McWhorter, a 21-year-old senior who lives north of campus. "You'd think at night they'd have something where there are people on every corner, doing something besides running around on campus . . . keeping students from crossing crosswalks on their bikes."
By Thursday evening, police had searched the Orchard Avenue apartment complex where the stabbing occurred and interviewed residents. Investigators said it did not appear that the attacker knew Frost, or that the fight was gang-related, authorities said.
Frost, who friends said transferred to USC after two years at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y., was getting a second bachelor's degree in the cinema school after earning one in economics. Jens Midthun, president of USC's undergraduate student body and Frost's Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity brother, described Frost as a "fun guy" and a "free spirit" who was not the type of person to get into fights.
"We are all concerned. This is a terrible incident, and we never want something like this to happen again," Midthun said. The fraternity row and residential areas north of campus are generally safe and well-patrolled, he said, but student leaders want the university to see how security measures can be improved.
