FULLERTON, Calif. — A retired administrator working as a consultant to California State University, Fullerton was fatally stabbed in a campus parking lot on the first day of the school year Monday in what police called a targeted attack, though they were not sure of a motive.
The victim was in his late 50s and worked in international student admissions at the sprawling campus south of Los Angeles, Fullerton police Lt. Jon Radus said.
He worked in admissions before retiring and had been rehired for the fall semester.
His identity was not immediately released by authorities.
A witness who called 911 at 8:27 a.m. said the suspect ran away, Radus said.
Authorities described the suspect as a man in his 20s with black hair wearing black pants and a black shirt.
Police found the victim inside a silver Infiniti. He had been stabbed many times.
The suspect and victim were both described as Asian.
City and campus police responded and provided first-aid, a university statement said.
“We do not know motive at this point for what occurred,” Radus told reporters. “We do not believe there is a random stabber.”
A backpack found underneath the car contained a knife-like weapon, items that could be used in a kidnapping and an “incendiary device,” a bottle filled with a flammable liquid that was capable of being ignited by hand, Radus said.
There was no order to shelter in place because the man was believed to have left the campus, but police presence was boosted.
The attack came as campus police were filming active-shooter scenarios in the Pollack Library and other campus locations as part of emergency preparation but the filming was canceled after the attack, campus spokeswoman Cerise Metzger told the Los Angeles Times.
In 1976, a custodian with a history of mental illness opened fire with a rifle in the school library, killing seven people and wounding two others. Edward Allaway was convicted and sentenced to a mental hospital.
The nearly 40,000-student commuter school in the middle of its host city in Orange County has the largest enrollment in the 23-campus California State University system. It is well known in the sports world for producing nationally ranked baseball teams and major leaguers including Justin Turner of the Los Angeles Dodgers and Khris Davis of the Oakland Athletics.
According to the university’s calendar, the academic year started Monday although classes were to resume later in the week.
