Johanna Justin-Jinich would have graduated next year from Wesleyan.
The 21-year-old junior was shot and killed while she worked at Red and Black Cafe inside Broad Street Books, a popular bookstore near campus Wednesday. Justin-Jinich was pronounced dead at a hospital.
Leah Lucid, a 21-year-old junior, told the Hartford Courant she had known Justin-Jinich since the first semester of their freshmen year and they were planning on being roommates as seniors. She affectionately called Justin-Jinich Yo-Yo.
The night before Justin-Jinich was killed, the two spoke past midnight with in Lucid's dorm room, she told the newspaper.
"She's a really loyal friend; a really loving, passionate person about life and about her friends and family," Lucid told the newspaper.
Justin-Jinich was passionate about writing and her work in public health and women's issues, Lucid told the newspaper, and she volunteered at various Planned Parenthood offices in her home state and in the area.
Justin-Jinich, who was from northern Colorado, was a 2006 graduate of the Westtown School, a private Quaker boarding school in rural southeastern Pennsylvania, about 25 miles west-southwest of Philadelphia.
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Wesleyan University officials offered counseling Wednesday night.
"This is a devastating loss for Johanna's family, friends, and for the entire Wesleyan Community," the university said in a statement. "Our hearts go out to all those who grieve for Johanna, and we hope all can find comfort in the support of friends, teachers and classmates."
Authorities said there were several witnesses to the shooting, and police found a wig used by the gunman and a weapon at the Red and Black Cafe inside Broad Street Books, where Justin-Jinich worked.
Outside the bookstore, several young women clustered outside the police line, crying. They said they were friends of the victim but would not talk to a reporter.
Other students called the shooting "tragic."
"We went from the height of our mood where everyone was really happy the semester was over to we don't even know what to think," said Darien Combs, a 20-year-old sophomore from Denver. "We're just processing."
“She was a really nice person (with) a really pretty smile. She was a joy to be around, she would brighten people’s days up,” Michael Battle, a sophomore, said.
“I couldn’t have imagined how she could have had any enemy that would have wanted to do this. It’s absolutely horrendous,” David Burke, a junior, said.
