Cops: UGA student, 21, shot and killed during drug deal

A 21-year-old University of Georgia student shot to death Tuesday was apparently killed during a drug deal, police said.

Athens-Clarke County police spokeswoman Hilda Sorrow said officers responded to Athens Regional Medical Center after the victim, Min Seok Cho, was taken to the hospital by private vehicle for treatment of a gunshot wound.

Cho died from his wounds, and his death is being investigated by University of Georgia police, the GBI and the Clarke County Coroner’s Office as a homicide, Sorrow said in a press release.

“Preliminary investigation indicates that the victim met the person or persons responsible for the shooting to exchange marijuana,” Sorrow said. She didn’t indicate where the shooting occurred or whether Cho was believed to be selling or purchasing drugs.

‘We are not, at this time, ready to release the particulars as the investigation is ongoing,” Sorrow said.

Sorrow said Cho’s body was taken to the GBI Crime Lab for an autopsy.

According ot the Athens Banner-Herald Cho was a graduate of Peachtree Ridge High School in Suwanee.

A reward of up to $1,000 is being offered by Crime Stoppers for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons responsible for Cho’s death. Anyone with information is asked to call Athens-Clarke County police Tip Line at 706-613-3342 or Det. Chris Brogden at 706-613-3888.

Cho is the second University of Georgia student to die in a week. Michael McClary, 19, of Decatur, died early Saturday after being found unresponsive in the back seat of a car.