Man Shot and Killed by UC Davis Police

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Students Matt Grauette, left, and Kyle Skierski examine the scene on the University of California, Davis, campus where a UC Davis police officer shot and killed a man Tuesday. "It's not the kind of thing that happens at this campus," UC Davis Chancellor Larry Vanderhoef said.

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Sacramento Bee/Brian Baer
Gunman killed by UCD officer
Officials say man fired at cop in first such case in campus history.
By Christina Jewett and Pamela Martineau -- Bee Staff Writer
Published 2:15 am PST Wednesday, December 15, 2004
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A veteran UC Davis police officer who was the target of at least two shots fired by an 18-to 20-year-old man returned fire on campus Tuesday evening, killing the man and sending a shock wave through dorms and libraries as students studied for final exams, officials said.

Officials did not identify the man Tuesday night or confirm or deny whether he was a student, convening a news conference within 60 yards of the body that was lying beneath a white tarp on a student housing quad.

The incident was the first officer-involved shooting in campus history, officials said.

"This is an incident that is a tragedy no matter what the details turn out to be," UC Davis Chancellor Larry Vanderhoef said. "It's not the kind of thing that happens at this campus."



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UC Davis Police Sgt. Paul Pfotenhauer said officers responded at 5:15 p.m. to a 911 call about a suspicious man near a housing office on Regan Hall Circle near California Avenue. He said three officers arrived and one approached the man and spoke with him.

"The person displayed a weapon, a handgun, fired two shots at the officer and the officer returned fire," Pfotenhauer said, adding that the officer fired at least one shot.

Each of the officers who were at the scene has at least 10 years of law enforcement experience and receives the same training as any city or county law enforcement officer, Pfotenhauer said.

UC Davis Police Chief Calvin Handy said the officers, whose names were not released, will be placed on administrative leave while an investigation is conducted. He said three agencies would investigate the shootings: The Yolo County District Attorney's Office, an independent criminal investigative unit from Yolo County and the UC Davis Police Department.

Handy said the officers involved in the incident were "deeply concerned" about what happened.

"They are being as poised as they can be," he said.

Pfotenhauer said the Yolo County Coroner's Office will release the man's identity following the on-scene investigation and after his family members are notified.

"CSI is here now," Pfotenhauer said Tuesday night. "They will take photos, look at the movement and positioning. This is not like a 30-minute TV program and it's over. They will probably be out here all night."

Witnesses also were being interviewed Tuesday night, he said.

Sophomore Jason Caragan, 19, said that as the incident began, he was reading about politics in Nigeria in a building within a block of where he heard what he thought was a car backfire. He said he and his friend went outside and saw a crowd heading toward the scene.

"I was definitely shocked," he said. "This stuff does not happen here."

Justin Liang said he was studying bacteria in the library when a friend called him on his cell phone to tell him the news. He said word spread quickly as cell phones lit up all over campus.

Liang, a sophomore, rode his bike near the crime scene Tuesday night and said the shooting broke his concentration before his finals.

"Something like this is going to haunt us here forever," he said. "That someone actually died here is unbelievable."

UC Davis spokeswoman Sylvia Wright said the incident was an isolated one.

"The safety of our students, faculty and staff is paramount, and we'll be investigating what's happened tonight very carefully," she said. "I do not feel there is any continuing danger to anyone at the UC Davis community at this point."

Wright said the last fatal instance of violence on campus was in 1985 when a physics lecturer was bludgeoned to death in a men's bathroom on campus.

Fred Gordon Morris, 34, was the first of four men attacked by Jeffrey Gerard Jones in bathrooms in Davis and Sacramento. Jones beat each man in a different restroom with a hammer. Jones was sentenced in 1988 to death for two murders in Sacramento. He received a life sentence for the Morris killing.

Davis police investigated the city's first homicide in seven years on Nov. 18 after Dennis Edward Thrower, 35, was shot to death on the balcony of a Cowell Street apartment.

As for the shooting on campus, Vanderhoef said campus officials were "gravely" concerned about the well-being of students who might be unnerved by the shooting.

"We're doing everything we can to make sure they have all of the counseling that they need," Vanderhoef said.