Investigators said Mohammad stabbed four people on campus last Wednesday.
Advertisement
Authorities rushed to call the stabbing spree at the University of California-Merced non-terror related but new information has cast doubt on that assessment. “His teachers and friends always spoke well of him”.
On November 4, Mohammad went on a rampage shortly before 8 a.m.in a classroom at the San Joaquin Valley campus.
Warnke said that he believes from the manifesto that Mohammad was exclusively upset that he had been kicked out of a study group and sought to take vengeance upon those who had hurt him.
In a two-page, handwritten manifesto found in his pocket, Mohammad outlined a script for the attack, including tying up his classmates with zip-tie handcuffs and using petroleum jelly to trip those who entered during the attack. Two students, a female staff member and Byron Price, a 31-year-old construction worker who was credited with slowing Mohammad’s onslaught, were injured as the computer science and engineering major slashed away with a 10-inch hunting knife, grinning demonically, according to witnesses.
Warnke said that investigators did not find evidence of mental illness or signs that he would be prone to violence or bloodshed before the attack. The attacker, 18-year-old Faisal Mohammad of Santa Clara, died after being shot by police.
Warnke and school officials said Tuesday that campus police would take over the investigation with assistance from the FBI. In spite of these revelations, the investigating authorities are still of the belief the attack was not religiously motivated, the report alleges. “As far as any further investigation into any outside influence, the FBI will be handling that from now on”.
“At a time like this”, the statement said, “our family, like any family, requests privacy”. “The Federal Bureau of Investigation is in search of answers and will not speculate about a motive and appreciate the public’s patience as we continue this significant task”.
The Merced Sun-Star newspaper on Monday reported that authorities discovered new information about Mohammad, including questions about the types of websites he visited in the days and weeks leading up to the event.
Hundreds of students, faculty and community members walk across Scholars Bridge during a vigil at UC Merced in Merced, California, on Friday, November 6, 2015.
Patel said Mohammad enjoyed basketball, going to the mosque to pray and playing video games with his friends. Mohammad would ignore him if he tried to talk to him, Velasquez said.
He also noted, however, that in the age of social media “everything is already everywhere” and disturbed individuals can seek inspiration from all corners of the globe. “But that doesn’t mean we’re all in danger”.
Advertisement
“If we succumb to that sense, then we have allowed them to achieve their goals”.
