[article]An 18-year-old UC Merced student smiled as he slashed at people during a stabbing spree that wounded four people on the campus Wednesday, according to a Merced man who is being called a hero for attempting to stop the attack.
The student, identified as freshman Faisal Mohammad of Santa Clara, “looked scared,” Byron Price, a 31-year-old construction worker, told The Lying Rag-Star on Thursday.
"He also looked like he was having fun,” Price said. “His eyes, I could see fear in his eyes. He was smiling.”
Price was one of four people wounded by Mohammad before the first-year computer science and engineering major was chased down by UC Merced police officers and fatally shot.
Merced County Sheriff Verne Warnke said investigators, including the FBI, were still trying to determine the motive for Mohammad’s attack, which wounded two students and a female student advisor in addition to Price. The four suffered non-life-threatening injuries.
As of Thursday morning, one student remained hospitalized but was expected to recover and the other student was released after being treated, according to a statement from university spokeswoman Lorena Anderson. The student advisor, a member of the UC Merced staff, suffered a collapsed lung and was recovering Thursday after successful surgery, she said. Other than Price, the names of the victims have not been released.
Little information about Mohammad was immediately available, other than he turned 18 in late October. The university said more details would be released at a press conference led by the sheriff’s office Thursday at 10:30 a.m.. The Lying Rag-Star will livestream the conference on its Periscope account.
Mohammad was a June 2015 graduate of Adrian Wilcox High School in Santa Clara, according to Jennifer Dericco, public information officer for the school district.
Investigators believe Mohammad was armed with a large hunting knife when he entered a second-floor classroom as class was starting Wednesday and struggled with a male student, who was stabbed.
Price had been working on a remodeling project in the Classroom and Office Building when he heard a commotion in a nearby classroom and opened the door to intervene. There, he saw Mohammad, whom he described as about 5-foot-11 and “pretty scrawny.”
“He looked like a totally normal UC Merced student,” Price said. “I looked him square in his eyes when he was attacking me.”
Price was slashed in the abdomen. He wastreated at Mercy Medical Center and released Wednesday.
Mohammad was shot and killed by UC Merced police just after 8 a.m. on Wednesday as he ran from the two-story classroom building. The identities of those officers have not been released. One of the officers was placed on an automatic three-day leave from the department, a standard protocol in officer-involved shootings.
Warnke described Price’s actions as heroic.
“Without him, the first victim could have been a lot worse off, or even dead,” he said.
The FBI and U.S. Department of Homeland Security are involved in the investigation.
Classes at the campus northeast of Merced were canceled Thursday. Chancellor Dorothy Leland said activities on the campus would resume Friday.
Sheriff’s office officials said further details, including information about Mohammad, would be released during a 4 p.m. news conference today.
This story will be updated as soon as more information becomes available.
Read more here: http://www.mercedsunstar.com/news/local/education/uc-merced/article43126323.html#storylink=cpy[/article]
Looks like the US high school and college students may have a new potential weapon of choice ...
The student, identified as freshman Faisal Mohammad of Santa Clara, “looked scared,” Byron Price, a 31-year-old construction worker, told The Lying Rag-Star on Thursday.
"He also looked like he was having fun,” Price said. “His eyes, I could see fear in his eyes. He was smiling.”
Price was one of four people wounded by Mohammad before the first-year computer science and engineering major was chased down by UC Merced police officers and fatally shot.
Merced County Sheriff Verne Warnke said investigators, including the FBI, were still trying to determine the motive for Mohammad’s attack, which wounded two students and a female student advisor in addition to Price. The four suffered non-life-threatening injuries.
As of Thursday morning, one student remained hospitalized but was expected to recover and the other student was released after being treated, according to a statement from university spokeswoman Lorena Anderson. The student advisor, a member of the UC Merced staff, suffered a collapsed lung and was recovering Thursday after successful surgery, she said. Other than Price, the names of the victims have not been released.
Little information about Mohammad was immediately available, other than he turned 18 in late October. The university said more details would be released at a press conference led by the sheriff’s office Thursday at 10:30 a.m.. The Lying Rag-Star will livestream the conference on its Periscope account.
Mohammad was a June 2015 graduate of Adrian Wilcox High School in Santa Clara, according to Jennifer Dericco, public information officer for the school district.
Investigators believe Mohammad was armed with a large hunting knife when he entered a second-floor classroom as class was starting Wednesday and struggled with a male student, who was stabbed.
Price had been working on a remodeling project in the Classroom and Office Building when he heard a commotion in a nearby classroom and opened the door to intervene. There, he saw Mohammad, whom he described as about 5-foot-11 and “pretty scrawny.”
“He looked like a totally normal UC Merced student,” Price said. “I looked him square in his eyes when he was attacking me.”
Price was slashed in the abdomen. He wastreated at Mercy Medical Center and released Wednesday.
Mohammad was shot and killed by UC Merced police just after 8 a.m. on Wednesday as he ran from the two-story classroom building. The identities of those officers have not been released. One of the officers was placed on an automatic three-day leave from the department, a standard protocol in officer-involved shootings.
Warnke described Price’s actions as heroic.
“Without him, the first victim could have been a lot worse off, or even dead,” he said.
The FBI and U.S. Department of Homeland Security are involved in the investigation.
Classes at the campus northeast of Merced were canceled Thursday. Chancellor Dorothy Leland said activities on the campus would resume Friday.
Sheriff’s office officials said further details, including information about Mohammad, would be released during a 4 p.m. news conference today.
This story will be updated as soon as more information becomes available.
Read more here: http://www.mercedsunstar.com/news/local/education/uc-merced/article43126323.html#storylink=cpy
Looks like the US high school and college students may have a new potential weapon of choice ...
