ARTICLE UPDATE 10/17/24:
A Santa Monica College employee who was critically wounded by her co-worker in a campus shooting Monday night has died.
The victim has been identified as 54-year-old Felicia Hudson. Hudson was a long-time employee of the school where she worked as a custodial operations manager. She was rushed to a hospital in critical condition and succumbed to her injuries Wednesday night, KTLA5 reports.
The suspect, 29-year-old Davon Durell Dean, fled the scene and later shot and killed himself inside his car Tuesday afternoon following a police pursuit. Dean’s family claimed him and Hudson had been arguing with each other but no additional details have been released.
A vigil to honor Hudson will be held on Thursday, Oct. 17 at 6:30 p.m. on the college’s Center for Media and Design campus. Classes at all Santa Monica College campuses will be online through the weekend.
ORIGINAL ARTICLE 10/16/24:
SANTA MONICA, Calif. — A Santa Monica College employee shot and critically wounded his co-worker Monday night before taking his own life the next day, officials said.
The suspect, Davon Durrell Dean, shot the victim around 9:15 p.m. at the Center for Media and Design, one of the school’s satellite campuses, ABC News reports. Dean fled the scene and remained at large overnight.
Around 3 p.m. Tuesday, police located his vehicle in Hawthorne, a town about 12 miles south of Santa Monica. Officers from the Hawthorne Police Department pursued Dean, who was eventually boxed in and surrounded by SWAT vehicles. Dean ultimately died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
“Despite the efforts of the Hawthorne Police Department’s Crisis Negotiations Team, Dean was found deceased inside his vehicle from a self-inflicted gunshot wound,” Santa Monica Police wrote in a social media post Tuesday night.
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The victim, whose name has not been released, is a custodial operations manager. Santa Monica College President Kathryn Jeffrey said she is a long-time employee of the school. She was transported to a local hospital with severe injuries and remains in critical condition. Santa Monica College Police Chief Johnnie Adams called the shooting a “workplace violence incident” but did not say how they knew each other.
Dean was previously arrested on an attempted murder charge in 2011 and assault with a deadly weapon involving a firearm in 2019. However, his only convictions were for misdemeanor property crimes. Santa Monica College said all prospective employees are required to disclose previous criminal convictions. Dean disclosed his convictions, the school said, which matched records from the Department of Justice, NBC Los Angeles reports.
“By law, the college is only able to consider convictions in our hiring decisions and are unaware of an applicant’s arrest history,” Jeffrey said, noting all employees are also required to be fingerprinted.
Santa Monica College Students Angered by Delayed Emergency Communication
All Santa Monica College campuses were closed on Tuesday and classes will be virtual for the remainder of the week “to prioritize the safety and well-being of our community,” Adams said, noting police would deploy extra patrols on campus.
Some students said they were upset they did not receive alerts about the shooting until about three hours after it occurred, according to KTLA5. The school has over 25,000 students enrolled at its seven campuses.
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“We were still on campus when the shooting was happening,” said student Andre Sajadi. “It’s absolutely ridiculous. It could’ve been one of us.”
“When I found out and I got home, I was really shocked, because I would think if there was a shooter on campus, then they would evacuate us which they didn’t,” said Mandy Kohanim, another student.
Anyone with information about the shooting is urged to contact the Santa Monica Police Department at (310) 458-8491.
