The campus police at University of California, Merced shot and killed a male student on Wednesday, November 4, 2015 after he wounded four people in a stabbing rampage on campus.
Two students, one staff member, and a construction worker were the victims. All are expected to survive the injury, though two of the victims needed to be air-lifted to a hospital.
A classroom building at the center of campus was the site of the incident, and the stabbing was said to have occurred around 8 am. School officials closed the campus immediately after the chaos, and are offering counseling to the witnesses and victims.
“We were told our campus was safe, that security was everywhere, but no one really knew,” said one student. “We were under the impression that we were always safe, but when that [prior stabbing] occurred, we understood that maybe we should take more serious precautions.”
Some of my friends wanted to cry. Some were upset. Some were in shock. It was insane to hear that this happened in general,” he continued. “You know it’s happened at other universities, and you know schools have been through these situations … but I don’t think anybody would have assumed it would happen here. We knew it could happen, but nobody thought it would.”
Information regarding the perpetrator has yet to be released, but the police have confirmed it was a male student. Campus officials are planning to resume classes and re-open the school and surrounding roads on Thursday, the day following the incident.