1996 San Diego State University shooting

Shooting

Davidson, the three faculty members, and three other engineering students assembled in the classroom shortly before 2:00 p.m. The three students were there to support Davidson, and to witness a master's thesis defense. Liang stood, formally introduced Davidson, stated the purpose of the meeting, and sat back down. Davidson then handed Liang a printout of an e-mail, from a prospective employer who was interested in hiring Davidson, that stated that his future employment with the company hinged on a successful master's thesis defense. Without time for comment from Liang, and without saying anything himself, Davidson removed a 9mm handgun from a first aid box on the wall and started firing. He hit Liang first, killing him while he was still seated at the faculty table. Lowrey and Lyrintzis were also hit. However, Lowrey tried to escape out the only main access door to the room. There were other doors in the room, but only one door led out to the hallway, and other parts of the third floor of the Engineering building.

Davidson was between the main door and the faculty table, and shot Lowrey several times; he died on the floor in the main doorway. Lyrintzis fled from the main door and Davidson, into an adjoining classroom, and hid under a table. After killing Lowrey, Davidson reloaded another magazine into the handgun, and pursued Lyrintzis into the other room. There, he shot and killed Lyrintzis while the latter was still under the desk. Overall, Davidson fired 23 rounds, with 16 rounds hitting the professors.

The three students attending the thesis defense were not shot, and escaped without injury. One of the students made it out through the main doorway, and notified the third-floor students and faculty to evacuate. Davidson later commented that he was not angry at the students, and had no intention of killing them.

After the shooting, Davidson himself called 9-1-1. SDSU police officers arrived to find Davidson in the third-floor hallway still holding the handgun. He was reportedly sobbing and begging for police to kill him. He soon surrendered to university police without further incident. Davidson had intended to kill himself after the shootings. Davidson had left a murder-suicide note in the hallway for the police to find, detailing the location of evidence and computer files in his house.

Victims

• Chen Liang, age 32
• O. Preston Lowrey III, age 44
• Constantinos Lyrintzis, age 36

Perpetrator and motives

Frederick Martin Davidson (born 1960), aged 36 at the time of the shooting, was a mechanical engineering graduate student at SDSU. On the day of the shooting, he was to defend his master's thesis in front of his victims. Chen Liang was his graduate adviser. San Diego Police Department investigations after the shooting determined that Davidson made advance plans for the shooting by slipping into the room where he was to defend his thesis at 10:00 a.m., and hiding the handgun and five extra magazines of ammunition in a first aid kit. Each magazine contained 15 rounds of ammunition.

Davidson believed that the three professors and the entire engineering department were involved in a conspiracy against him.{{cite news |title=Ex-San Diego State Student Pleads Guilty to Murdering 3 Professors

Aftermath

Three months later, a copycat threat flier was sent, with threats against professors and racial insults.

On July 19, 1997, Davidson was convicted under a plea bargain which spared him from the death penalty. He was sentenced to three consecutive life sentences without the possibility of parole.

L3 Memorial Park, dedicated on August 25, 2003, is located on the San Diego State University campus, near the engineering building, as a memorial to the slain professors. Also, the Preston Lowrey III Memorial Scholarship Fund was established at the university shortly after the shooting.

References

• Katz J., "Shooting in the Ivory Tower," Dorrance Publishing, Pittsburgh, PA, 2007.

References

1. Holmes, Ronald M.. (2001). "Murder in America". SAGE.
2. Pictorial history of world crime, Volume 2, p. 1015 (2004)
3. (April 16, 2007). "Timeline: Shootings at U.S. College Campuses". NPR.
4. Hughes, Joe. (1996-08-17). "Graduate Student Shoots Three Professors". [[San Diego Union Tribune]].
5. (August 20, 1996). "Man pleads innocent in slaying of 3 professors Calif. prosecutors to seek death penalty for student". [[Los Angeles Times]].
6. (August 17, 1996). "Slain professors called tough, but popular".
7. San Diego Union-Tribune newspaper, August 16, 1996
8. San Diego Union-Tribune newspaper, October 18, 1996
9. Bollinger, Christopher. (2018-06-14). "Violence Goes to College: The Authoritative Guide to Prevention, Intervention, and Response (3rd Ed.)". Charles C Thomas Publisher.
10. (July 19, 1997). "Man Gets 3 Life Terms For Killing 3 Professors". New York Times.
11. "SDSU Magazine {{!}} San Diego State University".
12. "L3 Memorial Park".
13. (August 19, 1996). "Message from Victim Dr. Preston Lowrey's Dr. Wife Ying L. Lowrey". CND.org.