UCLA campus in shock after student stabbed by classmate

LAPD detectives were seeking a motive in the stabbing of a UCLA student by a classmate, and people across the Westwood campus remain stunned at the sudden violence.

"We are all shocked by the attack that occurred in one of our chemistry teaching labs," UCLA Chancellor Gene Block said in a statement. "I know you join me in wishing for the speedy recovery of the young woman who was injured; our thoughts are with her and her family."

Although violence on college campuses has generated much attention in recent years, UCLA faculty members and students said they consider their school safe and can't understand why the suspect, identified as Damon D. Thompson, would slash the throat of a female student during a chemistry lab.

"People are shocked that something like that would happen," UCLA biochemistry professor Sabeeha Merchant. "But because we are at the university doesn't mean we are immune from what goes on in the rest of the world. This could happen in a restaurant or a shopping mall."

Students in the chemistry lab watched helplessly Thursday afternoon as their classmate suddenly slashed the neck of the female student, causing serious injuries.

The attack occurred just past noon on the sixth floor of Young Hall, prompting swift police mobilization and leaving students shaken by the violence as word spread across campus.

Police have booked Thompson on suspicion of attempted murder.

Thompson was arrested inside Young Hall minutes after the incident. The name of the victim has not been released. She was rushed to Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center, which is on campus, in critical condition. She underwent surgery and her condition was improving.

Los Angeles Police Department detectives said they don't know the motive for the attack. A law enforcement source said there might have been a verbal altercation before the slashing, but details were unclear. Both students were seniors, and some campus sources said they may have been lab partners.

UCLA officials sent a text alert to students, faculty and staff soon after the attack, telling them that an incident had occurred at Young Hall and to stay away from the area.

The attack took place between class sessions in an organic chemistry lab. The undergraduate-level lab enrolls about a dozen students and is usually led by teaching assistants. It is part of a class for about 60 students that is overseen by lecturer Alfred Bacher, according to department officials. Bacher could not be reached for comment.

Cyril Baida, a graduate student who is a teaching assistant in a lab next door, said he helped escort the victim into his room and sat her down while another teaching assistant kept applying pressure through gauze on her neck to stop the bleeding.

The victim was breathing, but was very pale and at times appeared to be passing out, said Baida, who praised police and UCLA medics for a quick and effective response to 911 calls.

"We kept trying to talk to her and tell her she was going to be OK," he recalled. "We wanted her to stay conscious."

Baida said he did not know the victim or the suspect, but was told that they were lab partners and had worked on some of the same projects.

UCLA campus spokeswoman Carol Stogsdill said that she had no information on past behavioral problems involving the suspect and that she had heard of no reports of any previous trouble in the class or between the two students.

Peter Felker, a chemistry department vice chairman, said the department also had not received any reports of trouble in the lab or complaints about the suspect's past behavior. "Nothing that I'm aware of," he said.

UCLA student Saad Ahmed said the violence left even unflappable med and pre-med students in shock.

"There was blood all over the place, so much blood where you thought, 'Is she going to make it?' " Ahmed said. "People were panicking, they were in disbelief, saying, 'How could this happen at UCLA?' "

This is the second time in the last few weeks that the Westwood campus has been touched by violence. Last month, a melee at an off-campus fraternity party left three students injured.

-- Andrew Blankstein and Larry Gordon

Photo: UCLA students wait to be interviewed by police after a male UCLA student slashed the throat of a female student at a campus science lab Thursday. Credit:  Spencer Weiner  / Los Angeles Times

More photos from the scene > > > >

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Comments

[TXGunMan]

I believe we need to put a federal ban on all knives. Pocket knives, butter knives, ALL knives. There is no practical need for a knife and people are being murdered with them. If the meat is cooked properly it will cut with a fork.

[Trying to make sense of it all]

As a college instructor - these stories really scare me! I can't imagine any of my students committing such violent acts, but then again, I'm sure the woman who was stabbed did not expect this to happen to her either.

I don't think it does too much good though to inquire as to whether the student in question had previous incidents after the fact. Many violent incidents on campuses occur in seemingly normal students. Also, it usually takes a huge incident for instructors to report the behavior.

Generally, instructors work with students from varied and diverse backgrounds, including those with mental and physical disabilities. If a student is acting "odd" but are overall quiet, do their work, come to class and are non-disruptive, this doesn't usually send up red flags for an instructor, whose job it is to focus on teaching at a level to meet a whole classroom of needs - not one individual student.

Many colleges have "Early Alert" systems to report students who may need early intervention. Usually these systems cover help with studying, financial aid, and housing. But perhaps, in light of so many incidents of college violence occurring sporadically throughout the country - schools need an anonymous way for instructors to reports students incidents and even strange behavior to provide earlier mental intervention.

I know this isn't the end all be all solution to violence in colleges, but at the very least it would be much easier to asses after the fact and glue more pieces of the puzzle together.

My heart goes out to her family, the students and UCLA.

[PF]

TX, did the article say it was a knife, or are you just assuming? I know you're trying to be funny, but you fail miserably.

[Kevin]

TxGunMan:

If you are serious - Typical California Knee-jerk Overreaction

If you are being sarcastic - Ha!

[Joe]

@ TXGunMan: "federal ban" "cooked meat", I think this person is straying far from the issue. Two incidents have occured across campuses throughout the U.S. we need to look towards the causes. The first incident was also in a lab which was blamed on "work violence", but we have not had an update on that case. Now we are waiting for a cause in this case, yet it will probably be considered "class violence". The anger at these Universities are becoming increasingly frequent. If we look at local incidents here in Los Angeles County, in Pasadena, we had a Pasadena City College student brutally kill a young foreign student in her apartment. This incident was not far from the school. Then a few months back another student was found stabbed and bleeding while walking to P.C.C., so what's to blame? Not the knife, but the person. We need to find the core of these situations...a weapon has no power without one who uses it.

[Jim]

He was arrested 2:15pm yesterday.

http://app4.lasd.org/iic/ajis_search.cfm

(You have to type in the suspect's name.)

Offender Record

Offender ID: 2088232
Offender Name: DAMON D THOMPSON
Date of Birth: 05/09/1989
Age: 20
Custody Status: In Custody
Location of Offender: LAPD Pacific Division
Race: Black
Gender: Male

Charge Level: F (Felony)

ARREST
Arrest Date: 10/08/2009 Arrest Time: 1415 Arrest Agency: 4208 Agency Description: LAPD-WLA DIVISION

Date Booked: 10/08/2009 Time Booked: 2113 Booking Location: 4214 Location Description: LAPD - PACIFIC

[billy f]

Must happen so fast that it's hard to react...hope she makes it and i hope the stabber gets put away for attempted murder and gets justice in the showers of LA County.

By the way, a ban on knives? That's the most ridiculous thing I've heard of. He would just use a fork, since, as you say, it can cut meat anyway. Let's put efforts on prosecuting him to the fullest.

Ban on butter knives? wow.

[econobiker]

Definitely need a federal ban on knives in order to "protect the children."

[TXGunMan]

Glad to hear everyone so against banning knives since yes, it is the bearer of the knife (or gun, or any other type of weapon, even a car) that is responsible for the action, not the item itself. But now we will hear from a lot of folks who will suddenly turn the other way and say "well now guns, that is a different story". No, it is not.

Sad to hear about violence anywhere, much less in an institute of higher learning. Thoughts and prayers are with the victim and family.

[truth]

I agree 100% with you TXGunMan, knifes should not be allowed, especially not on college campuses. If I had been packing, this guy would have been shot on the spot. Now we have to pay for prosecution and jailing this idiot.

[LARRY]

ONCE AGAIN CALIFORNIA IS A THE CUTTING EDGE OF HUMAN EVOLUTION!

[InTexasNow]

I was a physics ta at ucla for a year. I had a wierd student in class once. He didnt care about his grades and just acted strange. UCLA is a stressful university for science majors as it is on a quarter system. Im not surprised that a student snapped like this.

[Jerry Flailwell]

Please don't take TXGunMan's post as an indication that all Texans are gun-totin', root-n-tootin', redneck idiots with a lifetime membership in the NRA, a.k.a. the National Racists/Republicans/Reactionares Association.

[John@spyingforlying.com]

I'm concerned that we have seen two murders in labs in such a short amount of time. Why are college campuses such a magnet for violence?!?! The pictures of her coworkers are so tough to even look at, much less understand why...

[CAGunMan]

we should ban forks too... because they can stab people... a spoon should provide the equivalent cutting power of a fork...

[Matthew]

I hope Turtle is OK.

[gumborue]

you posters are dimmest around. clearly the call for banning knives is a sarcastic call from someone strongly against gun control. this case is actually evidence in support of gun control because if this crazy kid had a gun with a nice clip numerous wouldve been injured and who knows how many mortally.

[Rikki]

Word on campus is that they guy was mentally unbalanced. Either that, or the pressure got to him. The stress on students in top campuses are tremendous

[ucl2]

Separation of church and state is not helping our public learning institution. I know most of you may see this statement as nonsense, but morality and spirituality does have an important place in the public arena. Without it, the line between right and wrong become seriously blurred opening the door to misfortune unimaginable. Our public learning institution and our nation are in need of an answer we can't solve on our own. Take Care.

[ucl2]

Separation of church and state is not helping our public learning institution. I know most of you may see this statement as nonsense, but morality and spirituality do have an important place in the public arena. Without it, the line between right and wrong become seriously blurred opening the door to misfortune unimaginable. Our public learning institution and our nation are in need of an answer we can't solve on our own. Take Care.

[Scottsdale Jack]

There are too many crazy people running around loose in this country. Back in the old days the mentally ill were locked up to keep the rest of us safe. Then along came Thomas Szasz who claimed it was wrong to lock up mentally ill people, and his ideas gained traction with government and academia. After him came good old Ronald Reagan who didn't want anyone paying taxes, and after the tax cuts the state hospital doors opened and the nuts went free.

Crazy people are a far bigger danger to the average American than terrorists.

[WLM]

So, where is all the anti- knife people demanding knife control and knife bans?????????????? What made this particular knife do this to that young woman anyway?????
Those rotten knifes anyway, you can't trust any of them now days can you! Just the other day my knife cut up my steak the wrong way, I was sooooo mad.

This makes just as much sense as the gun control freaks and their anti gun crappppppppppppp. Just think about it a second..................................................

[Rick]

So you ban knives, what will that do. What if the suspect used a baseball bat or a hammer are you going to ban those. What is needed to to figure out why the suspect did this and could it have been prevented.

[JD]

Just goes to show that school "prestige" has little to do with violent crimes. Mentally imbalanced students exist everywhere. In fact, they're more prevalent at these institutions given the amount of competitive pressure they face. What a waste of talent and a good education.

[Erika]

TXGunMan: That is such a completely uncalled-for comment on this story! I assume you're a gun nut...