The Oakland community is in a state of shock following Monday’s shooting at Oikos University just five miles southwest from Mills College. The number of dead is the highest the Bay Area has seen in twenty years, since a 1983 massacre in San Francisco.
The suspect, One Goh, 43, was said to have entered Oiko’s administrative office in search of his target, an unnamed school administrator who left the school late last year and was involved in denying Goh’s request for a full tuition refund. After the denial, Goh voluntarily left the school last November. His target was previously thought to be Ellen Cervellon, the nursing program director.
“I think he was looking for me. I have that weight on my shoulders and I don’t know what to do with it,” said Cervellon to the Associated Press on April 4.
The only person in the administrative office at the time of the shooting was receptionist Katleen Ping. Goh took her hostage and led her to a classroom where he ordered the students to line up against the wall.
Then he started shooting.
As a result, seven people were killed: Tshering Rinzing Bhutia, 38; Doris Chibuko, 40; Sonam Chodon, 33; Grace Eunhae Kim, 23; Katleen Ping, 24; Judith Seymour, 53; and Lydia Sim, 21. In addition, three people were injured: Dawinder Kaur, 19; Grace Kirika; and Ahmad Javid Sayeed.
“It was a very bloody scene, and we have lots of evidence to collect. This was an unprecedented tragedy. These deaths were shocking and senseless,” Police Chief Howard Jordan told the Oakland Tribune.
Goh fled the scene in a car he had stolen from one of the victims and drove to a nearby Safeway supermarket, about five miles away from the scene of the shooting, where he told a staff member that he had shot people and needed to be arrested.
Goh was booked into Santa Rita Jail on April 3 and is being held without bail. He was arraigned on April 4 on seven counts of murder and three counts of attempted murder, which could make him eligible for the death penalty.
In the aftermath of this tragedy, a vigil was held on Tuesday, April 3 evening to honor those killed.
In recalling various memories of her daughter, Kathleen, Mary Jean Ping said to the Oakland Tribune, “Now, all those moments are a story.”
The city of Oakland has set up a crisis line for anyone who has been impacted by the shooting. The crisis line, run in partnership with Alameda County Behavioral Health Care and Catholic Charities of the East Bay, can be reached at 510-567-8109.
