{"article":{"id":291895,"heading":"18-year-old Faisal Mohammad rampages through UC Merced","author":"Lee Chin","created":"2015-11-05 16:16:45","modified":"2015-11-11 15:06:52","last_modified":"Wed, 11 Nov 2015 23:06:52","article":"

The UC Merced student who wounded four people in a stabbing spree at the campus has been identified as Faisal Mohammad, a freshman student from Santa Clara.

Merced Couty Sheriff Vern Warnke confirmed the identity of the 18-year-old student to the Sun-Star early Thursday.

Mohammad was shot and killed by UC Merced police just after 8 a.m. on Wednesday morning as he ran from the two-story classroom building where investigators said his violent spree began.

Warnke said investigators, including the FBI, were still trying to determine the motive for Mohammad’s attack, which wounded two students, a female student advisor and a construction worker who was on campus for a remodeling project. The four suffered non-life-threatening injuries.

Little information about Mohammad was immediately available, other than he turned 18 in late October.

Investigators believe Mohammad entered a second-floor classroom as class was starting Wednesday and struggled with a male student, who was stabbed.

Byron Price, a 31-year-old construction worker, was leading a crew in a nearby room when he heard the commotion and went to intervene. Warnke described Price’s actions as heroic.

“Without him, the first victim could have been a lot worse off, or even dead,” he said.

Price drew the suspect’s attention and was slashed around the waist during the confrontation. Price’s co-workers drove him to Mercy Medical Center where he was treated and later released.

Detectives believe Mohammad then left the building and stabbed another male student outside. He then found the student advisor sitting on a bench and stabbed her twice, officials said.

Other than Price, the names of the victims have not been released.

Two university police officers chased Mohammad to a bridge on the campus, where he was shot and killed. The identities of those officers have not been released. One of the officers was placed on an automatic three-day leave from the department, a standard protocol in officer-involved shootings.

The Federal Bureau of Investigations and U.S. Department of Homeland Security are involved in the investigation.

Classes at the campus northeast of Merced were canceled Thursday. Chancellor Dorothy Leland said activities on the campus would resume Friday.

<\/p>\n","contact":"","link":"","address":"","phone":"","parent_id":0,"mime_type":"text\/plain","summary":"4 stabbed at UC MERCED. Assailant identified as Freshman Mohammed Faisal","numcomment":2,"fileurl":"\/uploads\/","filesize":null,"article_url":"\/news\/2015\/11\/291895.php"},"attachments":[],"comments":[{"id":291901,"heading":"More info on the stabbing at UC Merced","article":"The man who stabbed four people at UC Merced before being shot and killed by police had planned an elaborate attack on his classmates because he was angry about getting kicked out of a study group, authorities said Thursday night.\r\n\r\nInvestigators found a \u201ctwo-page, handwritten manifesto\u201d in a pocket of the assailant, 18-year-old Faisal Mohammad, during an autopsy, Merced County Sheriff Vern Warnke said at a news conference. The document detailed an elaborate \u201cscript\u201d for the attack Wednesday morning, Warnke said.\r\n\r\nMohammad, a freshman, had planned to go into the classroom on the second floor of the Classroom and Office Building and tie his classmates\u2019 hands with zip-tie handcuffs and force another student to help him do so, Warnke said. Mohammad listed some students by name.\r\n\r\nHe then planned to put petroleum jelly into clear bags, cut holes in the bags and squirt the substance onto the floor, making \u201ckind of a slip-and-slide\u201d that would make it difficult for anyone who entered the room, Warnke said.\r\n\r\nIn the note, Mohammad said he anticipated a confrontation with police officers and planned to steal an officer\u2019s gun before leaving the classroom to \u201cdo other tragedies on campus,\u201d the sheriff said.\r\n\r\n\r\nAuthorities said they found a backpack with Mohammad that contained the zip ties, two clear bags containing petroleum jelly, a night-vision scope, a safety hammer (which the sheriff described as a \u201cdevice used to break windows\u201d), two rolls of duct tape and separate small pieces of duct tape.\r\n\r\nThe attacks began just before 8 a.m. in the classroom, which had about 15 students and which school officials described as a freshman general education course.\r\n\r\nThe attacker first slashed a male student\u2019s throat with a blade that authorities said was as long as 10 inches.\r\n\r\nHis plan appears to have been foiled by the sudden entrance of Byron Price, a construction worker who was finishing a job in the building.\r\n\r\nPrice said in an interview that he entered the classroom after hearing what sounded like a fight: slamming desks, yelling and a struggle. He went to the class to see whether he needed to break up a fight.\r\n\r\n\u201cHey, guys, you OK?\u201d he asked the professor.\r\n\r\nNo, run!\u201d she screamed.\r\n\r\n\u201cI\u2019ll never forget the look in her eyes,\u201d Price said.\r\n\r\nBefore he could figure out what was going on, he said, Mohammad was on him, \u201cholding the knife over his head,\u201d Price said. \u201cHe didn\u2019t know what he was doing. If he wanted to, he could\u2019ve killed me.\u201d\r\n\r\nPrice fell onto his back and began kicking at Mohammad while covering his head and chest with his arms to defend himself. He\u2019d never seen his attacker before.\r\n\r\n\u201cI looked the guy square in the eyes. He looked like he was having fun. ","author":"LATimes","parent_id":291895,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2015-11-06 04:39:05","modified":"2015-11-06 04:39:05","fileurl":""},{"id":291942,"heading":"New questions emerge about background of UC Merced attacker","article":"\r\nNew details that have emerged about the 18-year-old computer science student who was shot and killed by police after stabbing four people last week at UC Merced have led authorities to hand control of the criminal investigation to campus police and the FBI, Merced County Sheriff Vern Warnke confirmed.\r\n\r\nThe decision was made after \u201cnew information\u201d about Faisal Mohammad came to light Saturday, Warnke said. He declined to elaborate.\r\n\r\n\r\n\u201cI\u2019m not at liberty to discuss the information, but the developments on Saturday caused us to turn that over to (UC Merced) and the FBI will assist them,\u201d Warnke said.\r\n\r\nA law enforcement official, who spoke to the Sun-Star on condition of anonymity, said the information included questions about the manner in which Mohammad was dressed during the Nov. 4 attack and the types of websites he may have visited in the weeks and days before. Additionally, the official said, investigators found a printout of an image of an Islamic State flag among Mohammad\u2019s belongings.\r\n\r\nThe significance of the items, and any possible connection to the attack, is unclear and remains under investigation, the official said.\r\n\r\n","author":"Merced Sun","parent_id":291895,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2015-11-11 15:06:52","modified":"2015-11-11 15:06:52","fileurl":""}]}