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This archival content was written, edited, and published prior to LAist's acquisition by its current owner, Southern California Public Radio ("SCPR"). Content, such as language choice and subject matter, in archival articles therefore may not align with SCPR's current editorial standards. To learn more about those standards and why we make this distinction, please click here.

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Did a Local Radio Show Get Detailed Information About the USC Shootings?

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Photo by sahlgoode via Flickr

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This morning, the LAPD announced that they would be offering a $125,000 reward for information about the fatal shooting of two USC grad students.

But Fishbowl LA tipped us off to the fact that on Wednesday, an anonymous caller dialed in to a local radio station purporting to have all kinds of details about the shooter, what exactly when down before Ming Qu and Ying Wu were killed, and why kids at USC are being targeted.

Calling himself "Jungle Kid Five-Five," the tipster called in to "The Tim Conway Jr. Show," a conservative-leaning talk radio program on KFI AM 640. None of the information the caller provided is verified, and as far as we know his identity is still under wraps. But he told Conway that he lives right around the corner from USC, and has heard plenty of talk in the neighborhood about what exactly went down this past Wednesday morning.

"From what I been hearing is like, the guy apparently didn't want to give up like an iPhone," said the caller. "The guy wasn't trying to carjack him, he was trying to rob him...the guy wouldn't give up anything, or the girl, he shot both of them...the guy apparently who was the shooter is a fresh parolee that's just got out on a new release. That's word on the street."

Conway then subtly asks about the race of the shooter -- if he was "white, black, Hispanic?" -- to which the caller responds: "Unfortunately -- I'm African-American -- he's African-American...I know he's around from that hood."

The caller goes on to say that despite living in the area, he would never send his own kids to USC because of the high level of crime. He later says that the people committing crimes like this are "starving...not starving for food but starving for a better way," which Conway uses as an opportunity to interject his own opinion that they're starving for "a little action."

It all ends with Jungle Kid Five-Five agreeing to be the go-to guy for neighborhood crime information, and Conway confirming that "That guy sounds like he knows what he's talking about."

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You can listen to the whole program below -- Jungle Kid Five-Five comes on at about 6:20.

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