Security officer fatally stabbed in campus attack
Police kill assailant, who officials say may have been a custodian at Cal Poly Pomona.
A Cal Poly Pomona security officer was killed Friday in a violent altercation that ended when police fatally shot the attacker.
Pomona Police Chief Michael Olivieri announced the incident on Twitter and said one of his agency’s officers had been involved in the shooting.
A law enforcement source with knowledge of the incident told The Times that the security officer, 37, was stabbed and slashed in the neck. When police arrived, officers opened fire on the attacker, a 31-year-old man.
He and the victim were pronounced dead at the two scenes. Their names were not released.
The assailant may have been a custodian employed by the school, said Lt. John Corina of the L.A. County Sheriff ’s Department, which is investigating the incident.
The stabbing took place in the 3500 block of Pomona Boulevard about 4:30 p.m. The victim was found inside a truck parked on campus.
Los Angeles County Fire received a call from Cal Poly police about 4:55 p.m. about a person acting erratically.
About that same time, the attacker was shot four blocks away, near University Drive and Temple Avenue, Corina said.
A campus safety alert sent at 5 p.m. advised people to stay away from Lanterman Developmental Center and the John T. Lyle Center for Regenerative Studies.
Authorities searched the campus as a precaution but determined that there was no threat.
Cal Poly Pomona tweeted that grief counselors will be available for the campus community, as well as an after-hours crisis support line.
“Our university community is mourning the tragic loss of life today on our campus,” the school tweeted. “We are grateful to our University Police Department and officers from local agencies and other CSU campuses for keeping our campus safe.”
With its commencement
held two weeks ago, Cal Poly Pomona — which enrolls more than 25,000 students — was quieter than usual Friday afternoon.
Melanie Mota, 16, had just finished her college prep summer program for the day and was near the school’s soccer fields when a helicopter suddenly appeared and the sound of police sirens grew close.
The Chaffey High School junior worried there could be a gunman on campus.
“With all the shootings that have been happening, that’s really the first thing that comes to mind,” Melanie said. “It shows what our generation has gone through — shootings in all these places around the world. It kind of gets to you. And what if it gets worse?”
It wasn’t until after she arrived at her Ontario home that Melanie learned the details of the incident.
“I was far from where it happened, which brings some relief,” she said. “But just knowing you were in the same place and at the same time where all of this was happening is scary.”