By Fox 5 Digital Team and KTLA 5
A Cal Poly Pomona public safety employee was fatally stabbed and the suspect was killed after an officer-involved shooting on campus on Friday, authorities said.
KTLA reports the 39-year-old man described as a “public safety specialist” was found by another employee stabbed to death in his truck around 4:30 p.m. in an undeveloped part of the campus at 3500 W. Pomona Blvd., Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department Lt. John Corina said during a news conference Friday.
(Learn More. The coroner has not released the names of the stabbing victim, believed to be a campus parking officer or the name of the suspect, believed to be a campus custodian. Courtesy of CBS Los Angeles and YouTube. Posted on Jun 30, 2018.)
The employee reported the death and while officers were responding to the incident, a man was reported “acting strange” in another area of campus. Witnesses said the man appeared to be “out of it,” and one person was attacked by the man, Corina said.
Officers responded to the “rural” area of the campus about a half-mile away from the stabbing scene and contacted the man.
The man was then fatally shot by a Cal Poly Pomona Police Officer and a Pomona Police Department officer, Corina said. It is unclear what exactly led up to the shooting.
Corina said that evidence led authorities to believe that the man was responsible for the earlier stabbing.
Neither victim nor the suspect have been identified. It is unclear if the two men knew each other. The suspect was only described as possibly being a custodian on campus.
The victim was not a sworn officer and did not carry a gun, Corina said.
The motive behind the fatal stabbing is also unknown.
Corina said investigators will be looking into whether the suspect was under the influence of drugs or alcohol or had mental issues. He said the incident appeared to be isolated.
The lieutenant described the stabbing scene as “quite brutal” and that there was a lot of blood, adding that the suspect may have cut himself. A knife was found at the scene, he said.
“This is a very strange incident and very tragic incident,” Corina said.
(A Pomona police officer shot and killed a suspect following the stabbing death of a Cal Poly Pomona police parking officer on campus Friday afternoon, officials said. Courtesy of The Press-Enterprise and YouTube. Posted on Jun 29, 2018.)
Pomona Police Department Chief Michael Olivieri said the incident was first reported to his agency as an “officer down.”
“We’re very sad to see what we saw,” he said. “Our heart goes out to the Cal Poly Police Department.”
Tim Lynch, a university spokesman told reporters that the campus is a very safe one, and that “nothing resembling this” has happened on the campus in recent history.
“I assure incoming freshmen and their families that this is a very safe campus,” he said.
People were being told to stay away from campus south at Lanterman and Lyle Center, after the incident. Some road closures on campus are expected through Sunday, campus officials said.
Safety Alert from CPP. Major police activity at Campus South (Lanterman) & Lyle Center. Stay away from those areas. More info coming.
— Cal Poly Pomona (@calpolypomona) June 30, 2018
Anyone with information about the incident is asked to call the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department Homicide Bureau at 323-890-5500 or anonymously to Crime Stoppers at 800-222-8477.
The Sheriff’s Department is investigating the incidents.
Original post https://fox5sandiego.com/2018/06/29/officer-fatally-stabbed-suspect-killed-at-cal-poly-pomona/
Editor’s note: Our thoughts and prayers are with the family and loved ones of this officer.
