Editorial Note: The following news reports are summaries from original sources. They may also include corrections of Arabic names and political terminology. Comments are in parentheses.

 

Oakland Shooter, One Goh, Upset with Students Disrespect, Unfair Administration

Oakland shooter 'upset with students' disrespect'

Police say the South Korea-born suspect in a deadly shooting at a Christian school in Oakland was upset because students "mistreated and disrespected him" and because administrators asked him to leave due to behavioural problems.

By News Wires (text)

France 24, April 3, 2012

REUTERS -

The gunman who police suspect killed seven people and wounded three at a Christian college in Oakland, California, was upset with the school’s administration and students over what he viewed was unfair treatment while he was enrolled there, the Oakland police chief said Tuesday.

Oakland Police Chief Howard Jordan said ABC’s “Good Morning America” that One Goh, 43, has been cooperating with investigators trying to piece together a motive for killings at Oikos University. It was the deadliest shooting rampage on a U.S. college campus since 32 people were killed at Virginia Tech University in April 2007.

“We’ve learned that the suspect was upset with the administration at the school,” Jordan said. “He was also upset that students ... in the past when he attended the school, mistreated him, disrespected him and things of that nature.

“We’ve learned this was a very chaotic, calculated and determined gentleman that came there with specific intent to kill people,” Jordan said.

Witnesses say Goh, a Korean-American who had recently been removed as a student from Oikos, returned to the small college on Monday morning, entered a reception area and opened fire. He then walked into one of two classes in session, telling former classmates to line up and that he was going to kill them.

Goh, who police say acted alone, surrendered at a Safeway grocery store several miles from the college, which has links to the Korean-American Christian community.

“He was having, we believe, some behavioral problems at the school and was asked to leave several months ago,” Jordan said.

Police expect to deliver the results of their investigation to prosecutors, who will decide what charges to file, on Wednesday.

Students thought shooter was joking

Paul Singh, whose 19-year-old sister Devinder Kaur was shot in the arm during Monday’s rampage, told Reuters that according to his sister Goh had not been seen at the college in several months. When he burst into her classroom, he ordered the students to line up against a wall.

“‘Get in line and I’m going to kill you all,’ is what he said this morning, my sister told me. They thought he was joking at first,” Singh said.

Tashi Wangchuk said his wife, Dechen Yangzom, 28, was in another classroom when she heard gunfire.

“Out of instinct, she locked the door and turned off the lights. Then the guy came and banged on the door and shot several rounds at the door and then he left,” Wangchuk said. “The police said what she did was heroic.”

The Oikos killings came just about a month after a student opened fire at a high school in Chardon, Ohio, killing three students and wounding two.

Images from local television stations showed a chaotic scene at Oikos on Monday. Frightened students and staff ran from the school, located in a light industrial area near Oakland International Airport, as police and SWAT teams carrying assault rifles surrounded the area.

Oikos, which offers programs in theology, nursing, music and Asian medicine, describes itself on its website as having been started to provide the “highest standard education with Christian value and inspiration."

Oakland shooting suspect targeted administrator and classmates, police say

By Laird Harrison,

The Washington Post, April 3, 2012

OAKLAND —

A former student suspected of opening fire at a small Christian college in California, killing seven people and wounding three, was targeting a school administrator and former classmates who he felt had treated him unfairly, police said Tuesday.

Oakland Police Chief Howard Jordan said at a news conference that One Goh, 43, who had been expelled from Oikos University, had been cooperative with investigators after being taken into custody but “not particularly remorseful.”

“We know that he came here with the intent of locating an administrator and she was not here,” Jordan said. “He then went through the entire building systematically and randomly shooting victims.” He later surrendered at a grocery store several miles from the college.

The mid-morning attack at Oikos, a small Oakland college that has links to the Korean American Christian community, was the deadliest shooting rampage on a U.S. college campus since 32 people were killed by a student at Virginia Tech University in April 2007.

Police on Tuesday searched for the gun used in the rampage, using boats and a robot to plumb an estuary leading into nearby San Leandro Bay. Jordan said ballistics evidence showed the weapon was a semiautomatic pistol.

The three wounded victims had all been released from Highland Memorial Hospital in Oakland by mid-morning Tuesday.

Jordan said those killed included six women and a man, ranging in age from 21 to 40. The victims came from Korea, Nigeria, Nepal and the Philippines. Six were students and one was a secretary, he said.

He said Goh, a Korean American, had been expelled from the school two months earlier for “behavioral problems and anger management” issues, but he was not aware of any particular incident that had led to his removal.

“We’ve learned that the suspect was upset with the administration at the school,” Jordan told ABC’s “Good Morning America.”

“He was also upset that students . . . in the past when he attended the school, mistreated him, disrespected him and things of that nature,” he told the program. “We’ve learned this was a very chaotic, calculated and determined gentleman that came there with specific intent to kill people.”

Oakland school shooting suspect kills for revenge

SAN FRANCISCO, April 3, 2012 (Xinhua) --

The suspect in the shooting at a college in the U.S. city of Oakland which killed seven people may have opened fire because he was furious with a school administrator and some students, investigators said on Tuesday.

One Goh, 43, was identified by survivors and witnesses as the suspect in the mass shooting Monday morning at Oikos University in Oakland, a city in the state of California, which left seven people dead and three others wounded.

Goh, of Korean origin, was formally arrested Tuesday morning on counts of murder, attempted murder, carjacking and kidnapping, local newspaper Oakland Tribune reported.

Goh told investigators that one female administrator at the Christian university was the object of his fury, police said.

The suspect said that he came to the university with the intent of "locating an administrator," Oakland police chief Howard Jordan said Tuesday morning at a press conference.

Jordan would not identify the administrator, but confirmed that she was not among the victims.

The suspect also told investigators that he felt being teased by some former classmates particularly because of his poor English skills.

Police said that Goh shot most of the victims after entering the school, and even told victims to line up before shooting.

He then left the school by driving one victim's car and was later detained at a supermarket several miles away.

Goh was enrolled in the university but left in November last year, and police said that he may have been expelled because of behavioral problems.

Monday's rampage was among the worst mass killings in history in the San Francisco Bay Area and shocked the local community.

"This is a terrible tragedy. On behalf of the city we offer our deepest condolences to the victims and their families," Oakland Mayor Jean Quan said in a statement.

It was reported that the seven victims were mostly students except one employed as a secretary at the university. The six women and one man were in age from 20s to 40s, and were from different countries including Nigeria, Nepal and the Philippines.

Editor: yan