‘I was trying to shoot the wall’: Renowned professor who killed wife with shotgun blast claims accident, but the children were not surprised, police say

An Arizona State University professor accused of killing his wife with a shotgun blast to the back in their home allegedly claimed he was trying to shoot the wall.

David Zhu, 47, is facing one count of first-degree murder in the death of his wife, Susan Yijuan Yan, 46, online court and jail records said.

The drama happened on Saturday when Scottsdale police officers were dispatched at 6:33 p.m. to a shooting. Court documents obtained by the Arizona Republic show that Zhu reported he shot his wife while their children were home.

Once there, police found broken glass on the floor and what appeared to be a single gunshot through a wall, the document said. Zhu’s wife lay unresponsive, face up on the floor in a hallway outside the master bedroom, court documents said. She’d been shot in her shoulder and upper back and died at a hospital.

Police found two spent shotgun shells on the floor in the hallway and an unspent shotgun shell on the floor of the master bedroom along with a shotgun. Police also allegedly found a rifle in the master bedroom closet.

Zhu was detained. He allegedly said without provocation, “I was trying to shoot the wall behind her,” court documents said.

The couple’s children told detectives about frequent domestic violence between their parents over many years, court documents said. They said they heard a “screaming fight” and two gunshots.

“Neither child expressed any surprise that David had shot and killed their mother,” the affidavit said.

Media representatives from ASU offered condolences to those affected by the tragedy and said Zhu was being placed on administrative leave. He is also barred from the campus and from participating in college activities.

His ASU bio says he works in the Department of Management and Entrepreneurship.

“Zhu builds on social and psychological theories to examine strategic decision making of top executives and entrepreneurs, diversity in the upper echelons, innovation, corporate governance, and corporate strategy,” the bio said.

His work has been published in top scholarly journals and has received several international awards from the Academy of Management and Strategic Management Society, the bio said. As the faculty director of W.P. Carey’s DBA program in China, he has provided professional advice to many top executives worldwide, according to the bio.

He’s being held on $1 million bond at the Maricopa County Jail and is set to appear in court on Friday.