7 dead in shooting at Oakland religious school

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From CBS:

April 2, 2012 2:43 PM
Updated 7:00 p.m. ET

(CBS/AP) OAKLAND, Calif. - A gunman opened fire at a Christian university in California Monday, killing at least seven people and wounding as many as 3 more, authorities said. Police say they have a suspect in custody.

The deadly shooting erupted around 10:30 a.m. at Oikos University in Oakland, according to officials.

Police in nearby Alameda told KCBS that the suspected gunman was taken into custody in the parking lot of the Safeway store at about 12:20 p.m.

Police believe the shooter acted alone, though they have not discussed a possible motive. Those connected to the school, including the founder and several students, described the gunman as a former nursing student.

Officer Johnna Watson said the suspect is an Asian male in his 40s and was taken into custody at a shopping center in the neighboring city of Alameda. Watson would not confirm if he was a student.

Watson said most of the wounded or dead were shot inside the building. The industrial park in which the school is located also includes the county food bank and a local Girl Scouts headquarters.

Authorities earlier described him as a heavyset Korean man in his 40s wearing khaki clothing. "I can confirm that we do have one person who has been detained that we believe is possibly responsible for this shooting," Watson said.

KTVU-TV reported that the shooter opened fire in a classroom.

Following the shootings, CBS San Francisco video showed a chaotic scene as heavily armed SWAT officers swarmed into the building and bloodied victims were carried out on stretchers and loaded into ambulances. Several bodies covered in sheets were laid out on a patch of grass.

Police also evacuated nearby businesses, and agents with the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms arrived at the scene to assist with the investigation.

Pastor Jong Kim, who founded the school about 10 years ago, told the Oakland Tribune that the shooter was a nursing student who was no longer enrolled. He did not know if the shooter was expelled or dropped out. Kim said he 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 at the time, said she heard five to six gunshots at first. "The teacher said, `Run,' and we run," she said. "I was OK, because I know God protects me. I'm not afraid of him."

Angie Johnson told the San Francisco Chronicle that she saw a young woman leave the building with blood coming from her arm and crying: "I've been shot. I've been shot."

The injured woman said the shooter was a man in her nursing class who got up and shot one person at point-blank range in the chest before spraying the room with bullets, Johnson said.

"She said he looked crazy all the time," Johnson said the victim told her, "but they never knew how far he would go."

Four victims arrived at Highland Hospital for treatment, said spokeswoman Jerri Randrup.

According to its website, Oikos University offers studies in theology, music, nursing and Asian medicine. A telephone message left on the university's voicemail was not immediately returned.

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From IB Times:

(Photo: Reuters/Beck Diefenbach)
Students and onlookers at Oikos University talk amongst themselves at the scene of a multiple shooting at the school in Oakland, California, April 2, 2012. A gunman opened fire at a private Christian college in Oakland on Monday, killing at least six people and wounding three others before a suspect, reportedly a former student, was taken into custody, authorities said.

Monday, April 2, 2012 4:14 PM EDT
7 Shot Dead At California College; Ex-Student Named As Suspect
By Sara Dover

Seven people were killed and three wounded in a shooting rampage at a religious college in Oakland, Calif., Monday, police said.

A law-enforcement source close to the investigation told the San Francisco Chronicle that the suspect, who was captured hours later, is 43-year-old One Goh of Oakland.

The suspect used a .45-caliber handgun, spraying a classroom with gunfire and firing additional shots as he ran out, said the source, who did not wish to be identified as the investigation continues.

Goh had been a nursing student at Oikos University in East Oakland, and there was some kind of dispute that may have resulted in him getting kicked out of at least one class, the source said.

Police captured the suspected gunman inside an Alameda grocery store five miles away from the shooting site at Oikos University after he allegedly walked to the customer service counter and told employees, "I just shot some people."

Local media reported that police, fire crews and SWAT officers responded to several shootings at the Oikos University building shortly after 11 a.m. Pacific Time.

A suspect was taken into custody at a shopping center at 12:20 p.m., KCBS reported. According to the Los Angeles Times the suspect is now being by the police after being detained several miles away in Alameda.

An Asian male in his 40s was detained as a suspect, but he has not yet been charged in the shooting, Oakland police spokeswoman Johnna Watson told CNN.

"We believe that this is the person," Watson said.

Police would not release the suspect's name or confirm his relationship to his victims or Oikos University in East Oakland, but KTVU-TV reported that he was a student.

Pastor Jong Kim, who founded the school about 10 years ago, told the Oakland Tribune that the shooter was a nursing student who was no longer enrolled. He did not know if the shooter was expelled or dropped out, CBS reported.

Gunfire erupted inside the single-story building that houses the private Christian college about 10:30 a.m. (1:30 p.m. ET), according to Lucas Garcia, who was teaching an English class when it began.

Garcia told CNN affiliate KGO-TV that he counted about six gunshots from a nearby nursing classroom when he heard someone yell, "He's got a gun."

Garcia evacuated his students from the building while the gunfire continued, he said.

Tashi Wangchuk, whose wife attended the school and witnessed the shooting, told the Associated Press he was told by police that the gunman first shot a woman at the front desk, then continued shooting randomly in classrooms.

Wangchuk said his wife, Dechen Wangzom, was in her vocational nursing class when she heard gunshots. She locked the door and turned off the lights, Wangchuk said he was told by his wife, who was still being questioned by police Monday afternoon.

The gunman "banged on the door several times and started shooting outside and left," he said. Wangchuk said no one was hurt inside his wife's classroom, but that the gunman shot out the glass in the door. He said she did not know the man.

"She's a hero," he said.

Angie Johnson, 52, told the San Francisco Chronicle that she saw a young woman leave the building with blood coming from her arm and crying: "I've been shot. I've been shot."

The injured woman said the shooter was a man in her nursing class who got up and shot one person at point-blank range in the chest before spraying the room with bullets, Johnson said.

According to the police department's Twitter feed "no imminent public safety threat appears to exist". Oakland police spokeswoman Johnna Watson confirmed to the news media that one suspect had been detained.

Pastor Jong Kim, who founded the school about 10 years ago, told the Oakland Tribune that he heard about 30 gunshots in the building.

"I stayed in my office," he said.

Dramatic live television footage showed officers swarming around the small Christian university, with some appearing to enter the main building.

Pictures from the scene showed several bodies lying under white blankets on the ground near police vehicles.

According to its website, Oikos University is a Christian school that offers classes in nursing, theology and music and also has a campus in South Korea.

Oikos is a word from the ancient Greek language meaning "home".

This is a developing story.