Two Stern MBA Students Killed In Puerto Rico

Franco Medina Angulo, a 29-year-old MBA student at NYU’s Stern School of Business from Peru, was a future superstar. To attend Stern, he was awarded the Harvey Beker Scholarship, and in 2022, won first place in the J.P. Morgan Case Competition.

Sergio Palomino Ruiz, 28, could not have been happier about his acceptance to the Class of 2024 at Stern. “I couldn’t be more grateful to my family, friends, mentors and colleagues for their support throughout the process,” he wrote on his LinkedIn after getting admitted to NYU’s MBA program. “Looking forward to the new challenges to come!”

Both men were killed in the early hours on Saturday while waiting for an Uber outside a San Juan nightclub. It was an accidental killing because the students apparently were caught in the crossfire of a shooting between a woman who has since been arrested and a security guard. The students had gone to Puerto Rico to celebrate a birthday after finals.

The murders occurred at 3:53 a.m. at the Emo-Y Bar and Lounge nightclub. One of the victims suffered a bullet wound and died hours later, while his classmate died at the scene of the crime, according to local police reports.

‘NYU GRIEVES TODAY’

In a statement Monday, NYU Stern spokesman John Beckman said the entire university was “brokenhearted and shocked by the deaths of two MBA students in Puerto Rico, victims of senseless, tragic gunfire. Our information is that the two students were bystanders caught in an altercation between two unrelated groups. The students had traveled to Puerto Rico as part of a small group of classmates on a brief holiday from their studies.

“The University has been in touch with the remaining group members to offer them support and aid; none of the others were injured. NYU has also reached out to the families of the slain students to provide whatever assistance we can and to express the sympathies of the University community. In addition, our counseling service will make resources available to students in the MBA program, the Stern School community, and especially to the close peers and friends of the slain students.

“NYU grieves today with the family, loved ones, and friends of these students, whose lives ended tragically, suddenly, and far too early.”

VICTIMS WERE CELEBRATING A BIRTHDAY

Angulo came to the U.S. to earn his MBA after serving as head of credit sales in fixed income at BBVA en Perú where he worked for nearly five years. He had also been a co-founder and lecturer for CF-Aid, an institute that offers CFA preparation for low-income people. He had passed all three levels of the CFA on his first attempt. He had earned his undergraduate degree from Universidad Católica San Pablo.

Ruiz came to Stern after working as a junior associate for the GRIO – Grupo Romero Investment Office in Lima, Peru. Before that, he had been an investment banking analyst for EFIC Partners. He had earned his bachelor’s degree in economics from the Universidad del Pacífico in Lima and had been an exchange student in 2015 at Maastricht University School of Business and Economics.

“There are six boys, who are all tourists,” according to José Juan García, commissioner of the San Juan Municipal Police. “These young people arrived in Puerto Rico yesterday to celebrate a birthday. They chose that place to celebrate the birthday of one of them. It is understood that these two boys who died are innocent people and oblivious to what was happening there.”

The companions of the two students, all international students from Greece, Colombia and El Salvador, told the police that they had not had any problems at the disco, according to local reports. They were staying at an Airbnb in the Miramar area and decided to spend the night in San Juan. They were only going to stay until Monday, May 8.

‘RAYS OF LIGHT IN OUR COMMUNITY’

Stern students have begun a GoFundMe for the families of their slain classmates. Through late Monday it had raised more than half of an $80,000 goal.

“The Stern community is devastated by the loss our dear classmates, Franco and Sergio,” the fundraising page reads. “They were such rays of light in our community, constantly bringing laughter, smiles and joy to all of us. We express our profound sympathies for their families and want to offer assistance how we can.”

To view the GoFundMe, visit: https://gf.me/v/c/52kc/always-in-our-thoughts-franco-sergio.