Seven Dead in Christian University Shooting
A former student opened fire at a private Christian university in California on Monday, killing seven people.
The shooting started around midmorning at Oikos University, a vocational school offering studies in Asian medicine, theology, music and nursing in Oakland, Calif.
A police manhunt resulted in the capture of a suspect at a shopping center around three miles away. Oakland’s Police Chief Howard Jordan said a man identified as 43-year-old One L. Goh surrendered about one hour after the shooting.
Goh, a Korean national and former nursing student at the school, reportedly arrived on campus with the “the intent of locating an administrator. He then went through the entire building systematically and randomly shooting people,” Jordan told ABC News’ Good Morning America.
Jordan said police had learned “the suspect was upset with the administration at the school. He was also upset that students in the past, when he attended the school, mistreated him, disrespected him, and things of that nature.”
According to Jordan, the police do not yet have a motive. But he added that Goh was having behavioral problems at the university and was asked to leave several months ago. He said Goh was a “chaotic, calculated and determined gentleman,” and that it was his intention to kill people.
Police responded to several 911 calls after the first report was called in at 10:33 a.m., and found what Jordan described to be “an extremely chaotic scene.”
Goh allegedly shot 10 adults at the university, Jordan said at a news conference Monday evening. According to police, five victims were pronounced dead on the scene, and two died in the hospital. Jordan said the other three victims who were injured at the scene were taken to a hospital and are expected to survive.
Pastor Jong Kim, who founded the school about 10 years ago, told the Oakland Tribune that heard about 30 rapid-fire gunshots in the building.
“I stayed in my office,” he said.
Deborah Lee, who was in an English language class, told the Associated Press she heard five to six gunshots at first. “The teacher said, ‘Run,’ and we run,” she was reported as saying. “I was OK, because I know God protects me. I’m not afraid of him.”
According to a teacher at the school, many of the students at Oikos are Korean.
“We need to pull together to support the Korean community,” Mayor Jean Quan was reported saying in a CBS San Francisco report. “We need to put our arms around these people and do our best to bring peace back to the city”
Representatives of Korean Methodist Church in Oakland said at the news conference that a memorial service is scheduled for Tuesday evening. It is tentatively planned for 6 p.m. At 303 Hudson St.
Quan said the location may change in order to accommodate a larger group.
“This is the kind of incident that hurts the entire community,” she said. “We won’t understand the situation immediately, and the community will ask questions about it for a long time.”
