California gunman “was targeting school official”

PanARMENIAN.Net - The man who allegedly shot seven people dead and injured three more at a university in Oakland was targeting a female school official, police say, according to BBC News.

One L Goh began shooting randomly when he discovered the administrator was not there, Oakland Police Chief Howard Jordan said on Tuesday, April 3 morning.

The shooting took place on Monday at Oikos University. The suspect, a 43-year-old former student at the college, surrendered at a supermarket in nearby Alameda city.

The suspect arrived at the university with the "the intent of locating an administrator. He then went through the entire building systematically and randomly shooting people," Mr Jordan told ABC News' Good Morning America.

"We've learned that 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. He was having, we believe, some behavioural problems at the school and was asked to leave several months ago."

Mr Jordan described the suspect as a "chaotic, calculated and determined gentleman", adding that it was the gunman's intention to kill people.

Five people died at the scene, and two people died later at the hospital. Two people remain in hospital in a stable condition and one person has been released. According to the police chief, the victims ranged in age from 21 to 40.

Local media have described the gunman as an American man of Korean origin, who had been expelled from Oikos University for behavioural problems.

He is currently being held without bail on suspicion of murder, attempted murder, kidnapping and carjacking, and is expected to be formally charged in court on Wednesday, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.