A nursing student expelled from a small Christian university and upset about being teased over his poor English skills opened fire at the school, going from room to room in a rampage that left six students and a secretary dead, police said Tuesday.
Oakland Fire officials work outside of Oikos University after a school shooting in Oakland, California, Monday. (AP-Yonhap News)
One L. Goh, 43, a South Korea native, forced the secretary into a classroom at Oikos University in Oakland on Monday, told people to line up and, when some didn't cooperate, began his shooting spree, police Chief Howard Jordan said.
``It's very, very sad,'' Jordan said. ``We have seven people who didn't deserve to die and three others wounded because (of) someone who couldn't deal with the pressures of life.''
Goh, who became a U.S. citizen, was expelled in January for behavioral problems from the small private school of fewer than 100 students, Jordan said. The chief said Goh had anger management issues with other students.
Jordan said Goh appeared to have been planning the attack for several weeks.
Goh was upset with administrators and several students at the college, which an official said offered classes in Korean and English and was founded to help Korean immigrants adjust to a new country and find careers in nursing and ministry.
``They disrespected him, laughed at him,'' Jordan said. ``They made fun of his lack of English speaking skills. It made him feel isolated compared to the other students.''
Jordan said Goh tried to find a female administrator Monday and began shooting when he learned she wasn't there. The victims, who range in age from 21 to 40, were from various countries, including Nigeria, Nepal and the Philippines.
Goh was being held without bail Tuesday after being booked on suspicion of murder, attempted murder, kidnapping and carjacking, according to sheriff's Sgt. J.D. Nelson, who said the suspect likely would make his first court appearance Wednesday.
Police were still looking for the gun used, which Jordan described as a semiautomatic handgun that was purchased legally.
Goh has no criminal history, but he has debts and minor traffic citations in his former home state of Virginia and was evicted from one apartment complex.
Professor Romie John Delariman, who met Goh when he started studying nursing at Oikos, said Goh used to brag about violence.
He said Goh often told a story about beating someone up who tried to mug him in San Francisco, and said when he was bored he would go to the park and pick fights.
His brother, a soldier on active duty, was killed in a car crash last year in Virginia, according to Stars and Stripes newspaper.
The three surviving shooting victims were all released from Highland Hospital by Monday night, according to hospital officials, who would not release details on the nature of the injuries treated.
Goh fled from the school in a Honda Accord that belonged to one of the victims, Jordan said. The suspect was detained at a supermarket nearby, about an hour after the shooting.
Authorities have not released the names of the victims.
School secretary Katleen Ping is believed to be among the first victims of the shooting, according to her family.
Ping's father, Liberty Ping, said she had been working at Oikos for less than a year and had come to the U.S. from the Philippines in 2007. He described her as the rock of the family who leaves behind a 4-year-old son.
``We're just focusing on the positives,'' Liberty Ping said. ``She's with the Lord. She's in a better place right now.''
영어 못한다고 놀림받자 학교서 총기난사
지난 2일(현지시간) 미국 캘리포니아 주 오클랜드의 오이코스 대학에서 총을 난사해 7명을 숨지게 한 한국계 미국인 고원 일(43)씨는 학교 재학 시절 영어를 잘하지 못한다는 이유로 조롱을 당했던 것으로 나타났다.
하워드 조던 오클랜드 경찰서장은 3일 기자회견에서 고씨에 대한 조롱이 무차별 총기 난사의 한 동기인 것으로 보인다고 밝혔다.
조던은 학생들과 학교 행정관들이 그를 “존중하지 않고 비웃었으며” 이로 인해 그가 다른 학생들과 고립된 것처럼 느꼈다고 설명했다.
올해 1월에 ‘태도문제’로 퇴학당했던 고씨는 이번 범행을 수주전부터 계획한 것으로 추정된다고 조던 서장은 설명했다.
고씨는 사소한 교통위반 외엔 범죄기록이 없는 것으로 알려졌다. 그러나 고씨의 담당 교수 로미 존 델라리만은 그가 종종 폭력에 대해 뽐내듯 얘기하곤 했다며, 샌프란시스코에서 한 강도를 때려 눕힌 이야기를 자주 했다고 전했다.