Christian college gunman killed mostly women

OAKLAND, Calif. — Authorities say the gunman who opened fire at a small Oakland college killed six women during his campus rampage before slaying a man to commandeer his car as a getaway vehicle.

Oakland police have not identified the victims but Police Chief Howard Jordan released their genders, and the Oakland Tribune reported the male victim was shot for his car.

Jordan also told CNN on Tuesday the man arrested for Monday’s shootings, One L. Goh, 43, was upset with a female administrator for dismissing him from Oikos University, a small religious college in an industrial part of Oakland.

Sgt. J.D. Nelson, a spokesman with the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office, told the Los Angeles Times the victims have been identified, but their names were not released because of a police hold on the case.

The victims’ countries of origin, including Korea, Nigeria and Nepal, could “present problems” for the office moving forward, Nelson said, but did not elaborate. There was no planned timeline for the release of their names.

The first word that something was wrong at the campus came just after 10:30 a.m. Monday, when a caller told emergency dispatchers of a woman bleeding on the ground outside the little-known college, police said.

By the time the first officers arrived three minutes later, 911 lines were flooded with terrified calls from inside the school’s single-story brick building situated in a business park.

Heavily armed police and rescue personnel swarmed the neighborhood. SWAT units entered the school, where officers hurried many unharmed people to safety and carried victims outside.

Five people died at the scene. Two others succumbed after being taken to hospitals. Three additional people were hurt but did not suffer life-threatening injuries, police said.

“Today was an unprecedented tragedy, shocking and senseless,” Jordan said at a news conference. “No words can express the gravity of this incident.”

Authorities and witnesses described the alleged gunman as calmly spraying bullets around a classroom at Oikos.

“He stood up and began shooting,” Jordan said Monday evening. The gunman then left the classroom and continued his attack. “Shots were fired throughout the building,” the chief added.

About 35 students reportedly were inside the college at the time. Many locked doors when they heard the gunfire and screaming. This made it difficult for authorities to evacuate the school and reach some victims, whose bodies blocked doors, Jordan said.

“We had to force our way into some rooms,” he added.