A suspect involved in the shooting of a co-worker at a college in California has been found dead in his car after a standoff with police. The incident took place at Santa Monica College, where a custodial operations manager was critically wounded in a shooting late Monday at the Center for Media and Design, according to a statement by Santa Monica police on Wednesday. The victim, who remains unidentified, is said to be in critical condition following the attack.
The 39-year-old suspect reportedly fled the scene after the shooting, which college officials have described as a “workplace violence incident.” Police managed to stop his car near Hawthorne, just south of Santa Monica. Despite efforts to negotiate his surrender, the suspect was eventually discovered dead inside the vehicle due to suicide, as confirmed by the police department in their statement.
Authorities have stated that the investigation into the incident is ongoing, with detectives working to piece together the full sequence of events leading to the tragedy. They have assured the public that there are no additional suspects involved and there is no longer a threat to public safety following this incident.
In previous encounters with the law, the suspect had been arrested in 2011 on suspicion of attempted murder and in 2019 for alleged assault with a deadly weapon. However, police noted that his only convictions were for misdemeanor property crimes. Santa Monica College, which serves approximately 30,000 students across various campuses in the city, has since reopened after being closed for investigation on Tuesday.
The tragic events at Santa Monica College have once again brought the spotlight on issues of workplace violence and gun violence in the United States. The authorities continue to piece together the events leading up to the shooting, as the community grapples with the aftermath of this senseless act.