7:39 PM: Oakland police have identified the suspect in this morning’s mass shooting at Oikos University as 43-year-old One L. Goh.
Goh, believed to be an Oakland resident and a Korean national, allegedly shot 10 adults at the university, killing seven, police Chief Howard Jordan said at a news conference at police headquarters this evening.
“Today’s unprecedented tragedy was shocking and senseless,” Jordan said.
Police responded to the private Christian vocational school at 7850 Edgewater Drive after the first report was called in at 10:33 a.m., and found “an extremely chaotic scene,” Jordan said.
Five shooting victims were pronounced dead at the scene while another two victims died at a hospital, according to police.
Three other victims who were injured in the shooting were taken to a hospital and are expected to survive, Jordan said.
Police believe Goh used a handgun, and a weapon was recovered at the scene, he said.
Roughly 35 people were in or near the building when the crime occurred, and officers extracted 13 people from the facility, Jordan said.
Mayor Jean Quan, who also spoke at the news conference, said an officer was injured when he broke a window to get into the building.
Goh had fled the scene before the officers arrived, according to Jordan.
Goh took one of the victim’s cars and drove to a Safeway at 2227 South Shore Center in Alameda, Jordan said.
Shortly after 11:15 a.m., police received reports of a suspicious man near the Safeway who wanted to talk to police.
Jordan said Goh surrendered to Alameda police and is in Oakland police custody tonight.
He said he could not immediately confirm the names or nationalities of the victims.
Lucas Garcia, an ESL teacher at the university, said earlier today that students in the school’s nursing program are from all over, but that most of his students are from Korea.
“We need to pull together to support the Korean community,” Quan said. “We need to put our arms around these people and do our best to bring peace back to the city.”
Representatives of the Korean Methodist Church in Oakland who attended the news conference said a memorial service has been planned for Tuesday evening.
The service is tentatively scheduled for 6 p.m. at the church, located at 303 Hudson St.
The location may change to accommodate a larger group, Quan said.
“This is the kind of incident that hurts the entire community,” Quan said. “We won’t understand the situation immediately, and the community will ask questions about it for a long time.”
Jeff Shuttleworth, Bay City News
3:24 PM: Seven people were killed and three others wounded when a gunman opened fire at a Christian university in Oakland this morning, Oakland police said.
Oakland City Council president Larry Reid said this afternoon that six had died and three were wounded, but police have since confirmed that the death toll is seven.
The shooting occurred around 10:30 a.m. at Oikos University, located at 7850 Edgewater Drive.
This afternoon, students who had fled the shooting returned for their belongings and community members turned up looking for loved ones.
The university is a Christian school that offers courses of study in Asian medicine, theology, music and nursing, according to its website. Many of its students are Korean, an instructor said.
Timothy Yi, a pastor with the Hayward Korean Baptist Church, stood outside the school this afternoon trying to get word about one of the students, 20-year-old Lydia Sim.
Yi said he had been contacted by Sim’s parents, who haven’t been able to get in touch with her.
Police have detained the alleged gunman, Oakland police spokeswoman Officer Johnna Watson said.
“We do believe we have detained an individual responsible for the shooting at the college,” Watson said.
The suspect was located at a Safeway store at 2227 South Shore Center in Alameda, Alameda police said.
Police in that city received a report at 11:17 a.m. of a suspicious man sitting in the area wanting to talk to police.
Officers arrived and spoke with the man, and determined that he had been involved in the shooting at Oikos University, Alameda police said.
The suspect was described as an Asian male with a heavy build wearing tan or khaki clothing. Police have detained that person and are working to confirm no other shooters were involved, Watson said.
Deborah Lee, 25, a student from China who is studying at Oikos, said she was in an ESL class when she heard four or five pops that sounded like firecrackers.
She said her teacher left the room to see what was going on, then she heard a person yell, “Someone has a gun!”
Her teacher told the students to run, and everyone ran out of the classroom and left the school.
As of this afternoon, Lee was still waiting to get to her car, which was parked near the school within the perimeter set up by police.
Lucas Garcia, 33, of San Jose, teaches ESL at the school. He said he heard half a dozen gunshots then looked outside the classroom and heard that someone had a gun.
He said he heard six more gunshots, and that he and his students fled.
Garcia said most of his students are from Korea, but that students in the university’s nursing program are from all over.
Bob Aiello, who works as a union representative at a Teamsters Local 70 facility nearby at 400 Roland Way, said he saw emergency responders bring four or five bodies out of the school.
U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer released a statement today in response to the shooting.
“My thoughts and prayers go out to the families of those killed in this senseless tragedy,” Boxer said. “I am praying for a full and speedy recovery for all those injured in today’s shooting.”
2:15 PM: Six people were killed and three others wounded when a gunman opened fire at a Christian university in Oakland this morning, Oakland City Council president Larry Reid said this afternoon.
Reid confirmed the death total to reporters outside Oikos University, located at 7850 Edgewater Drive, shortly before 2 p.m.
The shooting was reported shortly after 10:30 a.m.
Police have detained the alleged gunman, Oakland police spokeswoman Officer Johnna Watson said.
“We do believe we have detained an individual responsible for the shooting at the college,” Watson said.
The suspect was located at a Safeway store at 2227 South Shore Center in Alameda, Alameda police said.
Police in that city received a report at 11:17 a.m. of a suspicious man sitting in the area wanting to talk to police.
Officers arrived and spoke with the man, and determined that he had been involved in the shooting at Oikos University, Alameda police said.
Oikos University is a Christian school that offers courses of study in Asian medicine, theology, music and nursing, according to its website.
The suspect was described as an Asian male with a heavy build wearing tan or khaki clothing. Police have detained that person and are working to confirm no other shooters were involved, Watson said.
Deborah Lee, 25, a student from China who is studying at Oikos, said she was in an ESL class when she heard four or five pops that sounded like firecrackers.
She said her teacher left the room to see what was going on, then she heard a person yell, “Someone has a gun!”
Her teacher told the students to run, and everyone ran out of the classroom and left the school.
As of this afternoon, Lee was still waiting to get to her car, which was parked near the school within the perimeter set up by police.
She said she had heard the shooter is a student at the school, and estimated that there were 20 to 30 people there at the time of the shooting.
Bob Aiello, who works as a union representative at a Teamsters Local 70 facility nearby at 400 Roland Way, said he saw emergency responders bring four or five bodies out of the school.
He said he has never seen anything like this in the neighborhood.
“I’ve always felt safe walking here,” he said.
Breena Kerr, Bay City News
12:49 PM: Police have detained the alleged gunman in a morning shooting at a Christian university near the Oakland Coliseum that left a number of people wounded or dead.
“We do believe we have detained an individual responsible for the shooting at the college,” Oakland police spokeswoman Johnna Watson said.
Two engines and five ambulances were requested on Edgewater Drive at approximately 10:36 a.m., the Oakland Fire Department reported via Twitter.
Watson said she could not yet say how many people were injured or killed in the shooting.
“We do know we have fatalities,” she said.
The shooting occurred at Oikos University, a Christian school that offers courses of study in Asian medicine, theology, music and nursing, according to its website.
Police have detained that person and are working to confirm no other shooters were involved, Watson said.
She said a SWAT team was at the scene.
“This is still a very active and fluid situation,” she said.
Coverage elsewhere: [Weekly] [KRON] [BC] [KCBS] [ABC7] [Chron] [Reuters via Ex]
Want more news, sent to your inbox every day? Then how about subscribing to our email newsletter? Here’s why we think you should. Come on, give it a try.
