UCLA science lab students watched in horror as male classmate slashed female student's throat [Updated]

Students in the UCLA science lab described the horrifying moments this afternoon when a male classmate slashed the throat of a female student, who was critically injured.

One student who was inside the lab when the attack occurred shortly after noon told The Times that he looked up as the assailant appeared to repeatedly punch the victim. Then the man calmly turned and walked away as the victim lay bleeding profusely.

Law enforcement sources said some type of verbal altercation occurred just before the attack, but the relationship, if any, between the assailant and the victim was unclear.  

Witnesses said they saw a woman staggering out of the sixth-floor Young Hall lab with a teacher's assistant applying pressure to her bloody neck moments after the attack, which was reported at 12:21 p.m.

The victim, whose name was withheld, was taken to Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center, where she apparently was undergoing surgery.

The suspected assailant  was taken into custody by UCLA police, who sealed off Young Hall, home of the school's chemistry department. Police said they don't know of any motive for the attack.

"We have asked students to stay away from Young Hall," said UCLA police spokeswoman Nancy Greenstein.

The attack apparently took place between class sessions in an organic chemistry lab on the top floor of Young Hall.

The undergraduate level lab, known as 30CL, 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, who joined the UCLA faculty in 2001 after work as a postdoctoral fellow there, could not be reached for comment.

By at least one account of a chemistry department employee who asked not to be identified, the assailant turned himself in to a campus employee in a third-floor reception and mail room area in the building.

UCLA chemistry professor Robin Garrell, who is chairwoman of the UCLA campuswide Faculty Senate, was leaving her fourth-floor office in Young Hall when she saw emergency crews wheeling out the victim on a stretcher on the ground floor.

Students and faculty “are obviously very shaken” by the incident, Garrell said. “It’s very shocking.”

Psychological counselors were on the scene to help students cope with the situation, she said.

Two hours later,  traumatized students who witnessed the attack, still in their lab coats, lined the sixth floor, waiting to be interviewed by detectives. Many of their personal possessions, including books and keys to their cars and residences, remained behind in the lab room that had become a crime scene.

[Updated at 4:45 p.m.: UCLA campus spokeswoman Carol Stogsdill said she had no information about the alleged assailant's past behavioral record and had not heard of any reports of previous trouble in the class or between the two students. She said both students were 20-year-old seniors and that their identities were being withheld by police.

Chemistry department vice chairman Peter Felker said he did not know any of the students in the class and that the department had not received any reports of trouble in the lab or complaints about the alleged assailant’s past behavior. "Nothing that I’m aware of,” he said.

UCLA biochemistry professor Sabeeha Merchant was close to the crime scene soon after the stabbing and praised the other students and faculty who came to the aid of the victim and alerted police. "They were responsible and calm and really helped,” she said.

Merchant and others described the mood in Young Hall as stunned. “People are shocked that something like that would happen. But because we are at the university doesn’t mean we are immune from what goes on in the rest of the world," she said. "This could happen in a restaurant or a shopping mall.”]

—Spencer Weiner and Anthony Pesce at UCLA, Andrew Blankstein and Larry Gordon in Los Angeles

Click here for photos from the scene

Photos: UCLA students wait to be interviewed, top, by campus police, right, after a male classmate slashed the throat of a female student at a campus science lab.

Credit: Spencer Weiner / Los Angeles Times

Comments

[Ann]

Here we go again. Typical male-on-female violence at a college campus. Hopefully this girl will survive, unlike Annie Le.

[Kevin]

This is so sad. The picture makes you feel so emotional.

[Tari O'Neill]

This was very scary for us as parents of a freshman UCLA student who has a science class in Young Hall. However, we are extremely thankful for the Bruin Alert who notified us of the attack before we read or heard about it in the media. Thank you UCLA.

[betsy]

Do not allow any of these numerous, disturbing university classroom events of late disrupt your schooling or dreams and goals. Keep your eyes on the prize. Finish your degrees and do good for the world.

[Liberal Cat]

what's up with scientists lately? First Yale and now UCLA...this should hurt recruiting. Go Cal Berkeley!!!

[Bad Habit]

Quick! We must pass laws banning the sale of sharp tools and other pointy implements.

People don't kill people, knives do.

[jayne byer]

what kind of stress are these students under? maybe before a student is accepted into a tough program like this, maybe there should be a psychological test to weed out those that may snap.( perfectionists are scary to begin with) or find another way for students to work together in the lab so people wont snap. maybe change their partners more often etc. make sure they have safety videos in the lab somewhere. thank goodness some were there to help.

[Leo McCormick]

What a coward. Slashing a woman's throat in class. This guy ought to be castrated in public.

[guy]

Isn't this the second stabbing/attack at UCLA within the past month? In this article and the previous fraternity attack, UCLA representatives both said that UCLA is still safe and that this could happen anywhere. Wake up people.

Although Westwood is beautiful, it is not as safe as it looks. All of Los Angeles is dangerous. I see many homeless people hanging around the biomedical building.

[Independence Intelligencer]

The "man" who witnessed the attack simply walked away? He didn't try to stop the assailant during or after the attack? He didn't call for help? He didn't try to keep the assailant from escaping? He just let the assailant walk out of the lab and turn himself in?

[G. Martz]

Not to take away from the horror of this act but, having Ronald Reagans name attached to a Medical facility has always struck me as being a joke. As Gov. he destroyed the mental health infrastucture of Calif. and more. Calif is still dealing with his actions

[Kelley]

Independence Intelligencer:

I believe the article states that the assailant "turned and walked away as the victim lay bleeding profusely", not the student who witnessed the attack.

[Josh]

I took that class under that professor. Very tough class, but you'd have to be beyond totally insane to attack a classmate like that!

[woodstock1969]

G. Martz wrote: "Not to take away from the horror of this act but, having Ronald Reagans name attached to a Medical facility has always struck me as being a joke. As Gov. he destroyed the mental health infrastucture of Calif. and more. Calif is still dealing with his actions"
I wonder what G. Martz would have written if it was named after GWBush. And how long ago was Reagan Governor? Nixon almost won the Ca Governorship in 1962, that would keep G.Martz.

[nick]

This certainly has something to do with sex. There are only two things that people will hurt other people; well at least in our time- sex and money. It's used to be about honor but that is no longer the case. More sex for all college students, less work. Sexual frustration is the real killer; just look at the middle east. No one ever want to hurt another person from being over-sexed.

[Fred]

Nick,
My bet is that someone went off his meds.....
Positive vibes going out to the victim and family.

[masquerade]

I knew someone that attended UCLA and had a criminal record. I didn't find out until after the fact, when this young man attempted to kill his GF, that he was on Probation for Conspiracy to Commit Murder (gang related). He attended UCLA and was on track to graduate until he attempted murder; he was a really bright guy.

It is a right to privacy issue, but students should be allowed to know if their peers are criminals. In fact all criminals should have to wear a badge or tag that displays what they were locked away for. If they have no respect for the right to life of others, why should we respect theirs.

[Froggy]

Unfortunately, punching a woman and slashing her throat is not considered a major crime in some traditional societies. Let's hope "the male student" doesn't fit in that civilizational cliché.

[G. Martz]

I'd have no problem with a GWBush Medical Centre. He wasn't a Gov. of Calif. I was in Calif. during Reagans Govenorship and my comment relates only to his actions. It's Reagans name and actions that I am commenting on.

[Xenu]

Sniffing too many of those chemicals?

[JD]

Uh Ann, this is "Typical male-on-female violence at a college campus?" I went to UCLA - and worked for the police - and I never heard of anything like this. I don't know what colleges you've been looking at. You don't even know this guy's affiliation, if any, to UCLA.

Get off your high horse. Everyone is sickened by such incidents.

[Kay Miller]

It's disturbing to read that according to the reporter not one student tried to help the woman who was attacked. If one of the witnesses saw the guy punching the woman, what was he waiting for? Was it just reality TV to him? Is the younger generation, being brought up in a world where electronic connections to other people is the norm, losing their connection to reality? This also is disturbing.

[ML]

I was there for this event, and I have to say it was intensely shocking. I work just down the hall from this lab, and responded to the room before the paramedics and the police arrived on the scene. The teaching assistant in the class saved that girls life, he held his hand on her throat until the paramedics arrived to evacuate her to the hospital, and did everything he could to help her and stop the bleeding. I don't want to get too graphic, but it was a horrific scene, yet still there were a dozen people or more like myself that were doing everything we could to help the situation. I think that should be remembered, that despite what this one individual did to this poor girl, there were 20 people that were there to help her. The whole event is such a shock, such a pointless act. I really hope she recovers and I really think the teaching assistant deserves a metal.

[jenna]

No place is safe...crime/violence is everywhere. Whether I'm at work or in class, I'm always alert and on the "go". The student attacked will need lots of resources and support. I hope she recovers...my thoughts and prayers are with her and her family. It's heartbreaking.
Jenna

[jenna]

No place is safe...crime/violence is everywhere. Whether I'm at work or in class, I'm always alert and on the "go". The student attacked will need lots of resources and support. I hope she recovers...my thoughts and prayers are with her and her family. It's heartbreaking.
Jenna

[David]

Guy writes "Although Westwood is beautiful, it is not as safe as it looks. All of Los Angeles is dangerous. I see many homeless people hanging around the biomedical building."

It wasn't a homeless man who hurt this poor woman and it wasn't a party of homeless men where a stabbing happened a month ago. Homelessness is a shame not because it scares ignorant people, but because its an embarrassment for us to allow people, often with mental illness, to live on our American streets.

[Lee Bridges]

From a Cal Bear to the UCLA Bruins, I'm really sorry to hear this. Past acts of violence on the Cal campus have had a deep impact on everyone, so I have an idea of what you're going through. Healing thoughts out to the victim and her family.

[Anonymous]

You know, UCLA is still a relatively safe school. These incidents are tragic but should be dealt with case by case. All schools are vulnerable to this kind of incident. The only logical sweeping change I can think of is to increase awareness of counseling services on all campuses. Psychological counseling might have averted this whole mess. Now we have one woman in the hospital and one man who's ruined his own life with a criminal record. Lovely.

Hm, they should have a Potential Homicide Hot line or something. I mean they have one if you're planning on killing yourself. What's the difference?

...

Ok you guys can debate that. Aaaaand GO!

[Ervin O. Raab]

We should all reflect on this as a cowardly act of violence.

Ervin O. Raab

[David]

[quote]

Isn't this the second stabbing/attack at UCLA within the past month? In this article and the previous fraternity attack, UCLA representatives both said that UCLA is still safe and that this could happen anywhere. Wake up people.

Although Westwood is beautiful, it is not as safe as it looks. All of Los Angeles is dangerous. I see many homeless people hanging around the biomedical building.
[quote]

I have lived in Westwood, right across the street from the Dorms, for 17 years and I can assure everyone that the above post is completely wrong. I work out at all hours of the night outdoors and feel absolutely safe. There are also not many homeless people hanging out at South Campus. The few on campus are long time visitors and are older and peaceful.

Westwood is a beautiful place. One attack fueled by alcohol and testosterone and a second by a psychopath is not proof Westwood is dangerous. This is one of the few parts of the City of Los Angeles patrolled by two police forces: the LAPD and the UCPD.

[Cal Moron]

"what's up with scientists lately? First Yale and now UCLA...this should hurt recruiting. Go Cal Berkeley!!!"

Liberal Cat,

Thank you, on behalf of UCLA and Yale, for being a tremendous representative of Cal Berkeley. UCLA and Yale experience very rare student attacks and Cal is repped by an idiot. Looks like no one is winning the recruiting game, not that UCLA or Yale care at all about recruiting at a time like this.

"Isn't this the second stabbing/attack at UCLA within the past month? In this article and the previous fraternity attack, UCLA representatives both said that UCLA is still safe and that this could happen anywhere. Wake up people.

Although Westwood is beautiful, it is not as safe as it looks. All of Los Angeles is dangerous. I see many homeless people hanging around the biomedical building."

Guy,

How does an isolated student-on-student attack speak at all the Westwood's/UCLA's safety as it pertains to the homeless people that loiter in some areas? Oh wait, it doesn't.

UCLA and the Westside are among the safest parts of Los Angeles. It's not as if these types of things happen with frequency. No, two isolated incidents relatively close in occurrence don't amount to 'frequency.' Heed your own advice and 'wake up.'

[Cal Moron]

"what's up with scientists lately? First Yale and now UCLA...this should hurt recruiting. Go Cal Berkeley!!!"

Liberal Cat,

Thank you, on behalf of UCLA and Yale, for being a tremendous representative of Cal Berkeley. UCLA and Yale experience very rare student attacks and Cal is repped by an idiot. Looks like no one is winning the recruiting game, not that UCLA or Yale care at all about recruiting at a time like this.

"Isn't this the second stabbing/attack at UCLA within the past month? In this article and the previous fraternity attack, UCLA representatives both said that UCLA is still safe and that this could happen anywhere. Wake up people.

Although Westwood is beautiful, it is not as safe as it looks. All of Los Angeles is dangerous. I see many homeless people hanging around the biomedical building."

Guy,

How does an isolated student-on-student attack speak at all the Westwood's/UCLA's safety as it pertains to the homeless people that loiter in some areas? Oh wait, it doesn't.

UCLA and the Westside are among the safest parts of Los Angeles. It's not as if these types of things happen with frequency. No, two isolated incidents relatively close in occurrence don't amount to 'frequency.' Heed your own advice and 'wake up.'

[So Sad.]

Your typical, socially dysfunctional male who is probably a failure with the opposite sex, i.e. he is sexually frustrated. It's usually the top academics who lose their minds because they're the outliers of mainstream society, in other words, the "overachiever pariahs." They don't get invited to parties, have few if any friends, and are inept when it comes to approaching the opposite sex. You see, when you notice that one person, who sits all alone in the library on Thursday, Friday or weekend nights, studies his/her tail off, is the 4.0 student, is aloog, tacit, and takes him/herself too seriously, that's when you stay as far away as you can from that nutcase. These are the "Virginia Tech/Columbine" types.

Poor girl, I wish her a speedy recovery and pray to God that these kinds of incidents don't occur again.

[Coolbrwnguy16]

Man im soo traumatized guess ucsb was the right choice and yea it didnt happen here ha!

[e.]

This is a horrible incident, and hopefully the victim will recover completely.

But, a story of much longer lasting concern is the issue of security on the UCLA campus, and in its research facilities and buildings. There is none. No doors are locked, no security guards present at entry ways, and there are no ID or entry badge requirements, anywhere. Where else in California is this the case? I work on studio film lots in Los Angeles, and no one can enter the property without ID. UCLA campus? Just walk on....walk into any building....there are no barriers. It's absurd. It's a disaster waiting to happen. Please, LA Times, do a story on that, and stop a catastrophe before it occurs.

[Amy]

e: Do you know how many people walk in and out of the many (MANY) entrances to Young on a daily basis? To have guards at every entrance to even just ONE building would be a logistics nightmare! And since the campus is completely open, it would be impossible to have guarded entry onto the campus itself.

There are ID requirements to enter certain buildings (or areas of buildings) on campus and most buildings require a key after 9pm.

Of course none of this matters since all evidence points to this crime being committed by a student enrolled in the Chem 30BL class.

[Bruins101]

[Quote]This is a horrible incident, and hopefully the victim will recover completely.

But, a story of much longer lasting concern is the issue of security on the UCLA campus, and in its research facilities and buildings. There is none. No doors are locked, no security guards present at entry ways, and there are no ID or entry badge requirements, anywhere. Where else in California is this the case? I work on studio film lots in Los Angeles, and no one can enter the property without ID. UCLA campus? Just walk on....walk into any building....there are no barriers. It's absurd. It's a disaster waiting to happen. Please, LA Times, do a story on that, and stop a catastrophe before it occurs.[/Quote]

See, UCLA is this thing called a "public university." That means it's open to everyone, for better or for worse. Where else is it the case? Well, at every other UC, CSU and JC. You worked in a private film studio. Completely different environment.

As a UCLA student, I still feel completely safe both on campus and in Westwood. It has one of the lowest crime rates of any university in the nation.

Go Bruins, and may God bless university students, victims and authorities during this time of need.

[john]

"Your typical, socially dysfunctional male who is probably a failure with the opposite sex, i.e. he is sexually frustrated. It's usually the top academics who lose their minds because they're the outliers of mainstream society, in other words, the "overachiever pariahs." They don't get invited to parties, have few if any friends, and are inept when it comes to approaching the opposite sex. You see, when you notice that one person, who sits all alone in the library on Thursday, Friday or weekend nights, studies his/her tail off, is the 4.0 student, is aloog, tacit, and takes him/herself too seriously, that's when you stay as far away as you can from that nutcase"

Wow, did you meet me in college or something? But I recovered, got married, and had kids. There is hope.

[Tat]

As an alumni of UCLA, it is unfortunate to hear these negative stories about UCLA. While the story puts fear into those unfamiliar with the campus, please consider that there are 1000's of students on campus. It is very difficult to have a crime occur without anyone seeing. Science lab is an area near the South campus, known for the hard-core medical bound students among others. If altruism exists, South campus should have a few...

The UCLA campus has police and security for those who require escorts when traveling at night and call buttons for calling help spaced out around the campus.

Crime can occur anywhere... but please have confidence in UCLA and those that are part of the UCLA family. There are crimes and suicides across universities, and Berkeley is definitely not immune to them.

The information is helpful and educational to both the parents and the freshman class to be alert and not to disregard the options available to them regarding on-campus escorts. And UCLA does have security cards into the living quarters for their students.

So parents of UCLA Bruins... try not to worry too much, but it's good you're worrying, UCLA students need all the love they can get due to the stress and competition.

Cheers!

[Olden Atwoody]

"Typical male-on-female violence”. I suggest that statement is racist and misogynistic.

Maybe, just maybe, there was tension between them as human beings, and it hit a boiling point.

To say "Typical male-on-female violence" presumes that she didn't somehow provoke the incident – inadvertently or otherwise. If an attacker is emotionally unstable, looking at them “the wrong way” can provoke the attack, just as much as insults and condescending behaviors may induce an attack. All aspects of the situation need to be examined here.

This may be more of a workplace violence issue, driven by stress and relati0onshisp, and not "typical" of anything except the narrow thinking of the observer.

Before we insult all men, let’s see the facts – or would you prefer we men retort with, “She asked for it”?

[A former student]

I was going to write there are too many nuts and not enough nut crackers. But rather than promoting the ushering of a gestapo state and piling an unfair amount of pressure on the police. I propose a more liberated human touch. Like high school guidance counsellors but for college. Where they monitor how many courses you are signed up for and your grades are monitored on a week by week basis so they can have a better mental health picture of each student and intercede to the students benefit when necessary.

[Justin]

It's amazing how a lot of these conversations jump the gun in concluding the implications this has on UCLA. I was just a floor downstairs when this attack took place and rest assured, this is an isolated incident with nothing comparable in recent memory. The frat stabbings were totally different and took place off campus.

We just have to wait and see. My thoughts go out to the victim and her family. I feel terrible for the TA who had to deal with this. They're more prepared to deal with chemical spills and explosions than with an act of violence.

[EastCoaster]

UCLA is the best University in California. The last I heard, UCLA have the the most applicants and the lowest acceptance rate of any other schools in California. That being said, some of the extremely smart people can be a little psychopathic. MIT and Cornell had their fair share of similar incidents. GO UCLA, you guys will get through this.

[Aunt Jemima]

STORY HAS A WEALTH OF NON-INFORMATION. WHY?

Usually when a story leaves out the name of the attacker or any information about the crime it means that the attacker was BLACK and is being protected. Universities and College administrations and their All Black Security Forces lock arms to protect the identity of Black and Tan attackers. V-Tec, Yale, Harvard, LA...

[Aunt Jemima]

Obama is responsible for this slashing attack. He has created the environment where throat slashers can exist.

[Don]

I went to UCLA School of Engineering in the late '70's. I took honors chemistry classes and found myself with numerous pre-med classmates. The competition was intense and the pressure was unbelievable.

The dropout rate among premeds was high. Conventional wisdom was that profs of pre-med chem courses deliberately failed large numbers of students to weed out the weaker ones.

People snapped. There were at least a couple of suicides in my years there. That was when they prohibited access to the roofs of the dorms, and built an expensive anti-suicide barrier on the roof of Bunche Hall (the joke was, you can clean up a lot of messes for that kind of money).

In my day, when people snapped, they harmed themselves. Now they seem to want to harm others.

[Fred]

Olden Atwoody: Why is the statement "Typical male-on-female violence" racist?

I think you're projecting. Consider taking a class on critical thinking or logic.

[Ann]

Oh brother, my "typical male-on-female violence" comment is totally being misconstrued. I was trying to make a simple point of yet another woman being attacked by a man. It was nothing against college campuses, but day in and out it always seems men are attacking women (or children). Yes, I know women do commit crimes, but seriously, I would love to the statistics on how many women injure/kill men vs men injure/kill women.

I'm sure the vast majority of attackers/rapists/killers are male. Why, because they tend to be built bigger? More testosterone?

Go ahead and call me sexist - maybe I am. However, men tend to be the more violent of the two sexes; this is not an opinion, just a fact.

[ucla chem student]

i took both chemistry 30BL and 30CL under professor alfred bacher, and his class is the most intense class i have ever had to drag myself through at UCLA.
AND, you could rarely, if ever, find him or get to him, because he would lock himself up in his office, and sit in the dark by himself. is it inappropriate to think it's funny that he's nowhere to be found during this incident?

[nomnom]

"Your typical, socially dysfunctional male who is probably a failure with the opposite sex, i.e. he is sexually frustrated. It's usually the top academics who lose their minds because they're the outliers of mainstream society, in other words, the "overachiever pariahs." They don't get invited to parties, have few if any friends, and are inept when it comes to approaching the opposite sex. You see, when you notice that one person, who sits all alone in the library on Thursday, Friday or weekend nights, studies his/her tail off, is the 4.0 student, is aloog, tacit, and takes him/herself too seriously, that's when you stay as far away as you can from that nutcase"

If this were the case, universities would be a river of blood on a daily basis.
You can't just lump every studious or introverted kid into that kind of umbrella.
I'm no UCLA student, but where I come from there's hoardes of people that have to study that hard to even stay in school, much less ace all their classes.

~best wishes for the student.

[AntiCitizenOne]

We start our medical school gross anatomy lab in two weeks. There's going to be people running around with scalpels, scissors, and bonesaws!

Oh wait.

[Honestly]

Cowartly acts of violence occur every day from corporations to courtrooms to hospitals to university class rooms and labs.

[tim kates]

So how'd the bruins do today agaisnt oreagon? Thats what we all really want to know.