Paul Bass Photo
Arby’s Dumpster near where Pan’s bag was found. Police returned Thursday seeking more evidence.
North Haven’s top cop said his officers had no reason to act otherwise when they found Qinxuan Pan in a deserted scrap metal yard the night of a Goatville murder — then let him go, leading to a nationwide manhunt that has led investigators to Georgia.
Chief Kevin Glenn offered a defense and partial explanation of their actions in response to questions about why they didn’t investigate further before leaving Pan, after which point he skipped town and subsequently became the subject of a nationwide manhunt.
“The officers involved in this investigation did their job properly,” Glenn told the Independent in an email message Thursday.
Kevin Jiang.
Law enforcement has designated Pan, a 29-year-old artificial-intelligence researcher at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, a “person of interest” in a murder that took place on Lawrence Street in New Haven’s Goatville neighborhood Saturday Feb. 6 at 8:33 p.m. Someone shot 26-year-old Yale forestry graduate student Kevin Jiang to death, repeatedly at close range, in that incident.
New Haven Police Chief Otoniel Reyes Wednesday sought the public’s help in finding Pan, whom he described as “armed and dangerous.” New Haven, state, and federal agents are combing the South in search of Pan. He was last spotted in Georgia.
U.S. marshals Thursday announced a reward of up to $5,000 for information leading to Pan’s capture. (More on that later in the story.)
Hsiu Chang Photo
Zion Perry, left, and Qinxuan Pan, right, at a March 2020 MIT event.
Hsiu Chang Photo
Perry and Pan at the March 2020 MIT Lindy Hop Society Bread & Bones Birthday Jam.
The murder took place near the apartment of Yale graduate student Zion Perry. Perry and Jiang had gotten engaged a week earlier. Perry earned her undergraduate degree in 2020 at MIT, where Pan is a researcher in the Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL). Perry and Pan had crossed paths there, including at a March 4, 2020, Lindy Hop Society Bread & Bones Birthday Jam celebration at MIT’s Morss Hall (where they’re pictured in this story). Perry did not respond to a request for comment for this story.) (There has been no suggestion or evidence presented to date that the two had a romantic relationship.) Pan was “in the vicinity” of the murder scene, according to police.
At a press conference Wednesday, Reyes revealed that “soon after” the Feb. 6 murder, North Haven police encountered Pan. Reyes credited North Haven police for putting Pan on their radar.
Paul Bass Photo
Sim’s scrap metal yard on Universal Drive.
North Haven police had responded to a call about a man in a dark SUV stuck on railroad tracks in the parking lot of Sim’s Metals, a junkyard at a dead end of Universal Drive.
In recent days accusations spread on social media that North Haven officers “screwed up” in letting Pan go, including specific accusations of warning signs ignored.
North Haven PD
Chief Kevin Glenn: Officer “did their job properly.”
Chief Glenn said he couldn’t reveal all that happened that night because the investigation is ongoing.
However he agreed to offer a partial account by email.
He wrote that someone from Sim’s had reported that “someone drove through their parking lot who then became disabled.”
“When officers arrived, they found Pan behind the wheel and the vehicle had a flat tire,” Glenn wrote. “At the time, there was no reason for the officers to do a sobriety test, or pat him down. The vehicle was checked and found to be properly registered. Mr. Pan had a valid license, and the vehicle was not reported stolen at the time.”
The North Haven cops had the car towed, Glenn wrote.
(Pan rode along with the tow truck driver to the Best Western Hotel on Washington Avenue. North Haven police left him there.)
“A Massachusetts police department later called us stating they were entering the vehicle as stolen and saw that we ran the vehicle earlier in the evening,” Glenn continued.
Glenn did not address whether the license plate on the SUV Pan was driving matched the SUV or whether police on scene ran the plate. He declined to comment further, or to respond to a question about why the SUV would be towed for having a flat tire.
“I’m sure you can understand that I am not going to go into more details,” Glenn wrote. “The integrity of the investigation is paramount.”
Paul Bass Photo
The Washington Avenue Arby’s where Pan’s bag was discovered.
When police officers subsequently visited the hotel, Pan had fled the state. Someone called police to report the discovery of a bag dropped near the Dumpster in the Arby’s parking lot, which contained potential evidence. New Haven cops have returned to that lot and to Sim’s and the hotel this week seeking more evidence.
Marshals Seek Public’s Help
Qinxuan Pan.
At this point, police have obtained a warrant for Pan’s arrest on charges of unlawful flight to avoid prosecution and interstate theft of a vehicle. If Pan is captured, his bond would be set at $300,000 and he would face extradition to New Haven.
New Haven police have enlisted the U.S. Marshals Violent Fugitive Task Force in the search for Pan, which has focused on Southern states.
On Thursday evening the marshals announced the reward of up to $5,000 for “information leading to the location and arrest” of Pan. They stated in a release that Pan is six feet tall, weighs 170 pounds, “with a medium complexion and short black hair.”
“He could possibly be staying with friends or family in the Duluth or Brookhaven areas of Georgia,” the release stated. “Pan was last seen in the early morning hours on Feb. 11 driving with family members in Brookhaven or Duluth, Georgia. According to family, Pan was carrying a black backpack and acting strange.”
The marshals ask people to contact them at 1 – 877-Wanted‑2 (1 – 877-926‑8332) — and not to “attempt to apprehend him themselves.”