The University of California, Merced, student who was shot and killed by police Wednesday after wounding four people in a stabbing spree on campus has been identified as 18-year-old Faisal Mohammad.
Merced County Sheriff Vern Warnke confirmed the identity of Mohammad, a freshman Computer Science and Engineering major, to the Merced Sun-Star early Thursday.
The sheriff said investigators, including the FBI, were still trying to determine the motive for Mohammad’s attack, which wounded two students and two others, who all suffered non-life-threatening injuries.
Little information about Mohammad was immediately available, other than he turned 18 in late October, the Sun-Star reported. The university said more details would be released at a press conference led by the sheriff’s office Thursday at 10:30 a.m.
Shortly before 8 a.m. Wednesday, police said, Mohammad burst through a second-floor classroom and stabbed one student with an 8- to 10-inch hunting knife. A construction worker who overheard the noise rushed inside and tried to distract the suspect, but was also stabbed, police said.
As he fled down a flight of stairs, police said, Mohammad stabbed a second student and a student adviser before officers responding to the scene caught up with him, NBC News reported.
“When the suspect turned toward the officers, an officer-involved shooting occurred and the suspect succumbed to his injuries,” UC Merced Police Chief Albert Vasquez said Wednesday.
• Jessica Chasmar can be reached at jchasmar@washingtontimes.com.
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