A Syracuse University graduate student was killed yesterday by government forces in Syria, where he was making a film about the violence in the country, according to a message from Chancellor Nancy Cantor on SU News.  

The student, Bassel Al Shahade, was a native of Damascus, Syria. He was killed in the city of Homs, where he was filming government attacks against citizens. Al Shahade was a Fulbright Scholar working toward a Master of Fine Arts in Film in the College of Visual and Performing Arts, according to the message.

‘As a University community, we must deplore the senseless violence by Syrian government forces that took the life of Bassel, and countless others over these many months,’ Cantor said in the message.

Plans are being made to memorialize Al Shahade in the coming weeks, and there will also be a formal remembrance at the start of the academic year, according to the release.

cffabris@syr.edu