A gunman who killed seven people at a Christian college was upset after being teased by other students about his English skills and was seeking vengeance against a school official who had expelled him.
A gunman who killed seven people at a Christian college was upset after being teased by other students about his English skills and was seeking vengeance against a school official who had expelled him.
When he could not find the female administrator, South Korean-born One Goh, 43, shot dead a secretary at the front desk and then entered a classroom where he lined up students against a board and killed them at point blank range.
Goh had been attending Oikos University in Oakland, California, as a nursing student before being asked to leave several months ago. He had previously lived in Springfield, Virginia, less than 20 miles from Centreville, the home town of Seung-Hui Cho, the South Korean who killed 32 people in the Virginia Tech school massacre on April 16, 2007.
In March last year, Goh attended a memorial service in Centreville for his brother, a 31-year-old US army sergeant, killed in a road accident. He also has a surviving brother in the town, which has a large Korean population. It was unclear whether Goh and Cho knew each other.
Before moving to California, Goh had run up tax debts of more than $23,000 (pounds 14,000) in Virginia and was evicted from an apartment. His brother's death was said to have affected him badly and his mother died in Seoul last year.
Howard Jordan, the Oakland police chief, said: "The suspect was upset with the administration at the school. He was also upset that students in the past, when he attended the school, mistreated him, disrespected him.
"They laughed at him. They made fun of his lack of English-speaking skills. It made him feel isolated compared to the other students. He was having, we believe, some behavioural problems at the school. This was a very chaotic, calculated and determined gentleman that came there with a very specific intent to kill people."
He said Goh had yet to show any remorse.
The official Goh was seeking was not at the college on Monday so he went into a class and began "systematically and randomly shooting victims", police said.
About 35 people were at the college at the time.
Dechen Yangdon, 27, a student, was inside the second classroom with eight others. She locked the door and turned out the lights when she heard the first shots. "I heard our receptionist screaming, 'Jesus Christ, Jesus Christ, he's got a gun'," she said. "After that, she just kept calling 'Help, help, help!' But we were locked inside. We couldn't help her."
Mrs Yangdon said Goh attempted to kick in the door and fired four shots through a glass pane before giving up. She and her classmates cowered under desks for 10 minutes before a Swat team arrived.
Paul Singh, whose 19-year-old sister Devinder Kaur, a nursing student, was shot in the arm, said: "?'Get in line and I'm going to kill you all', is what he said, my sister told me. They thought he was joking at first."
Witnesses said that, as well as shooting people at close range in the head and chest, Goh also sprayed the room with bullets, firing up to 30 times with a.45 calibre handgun. Six of the dead were women and the victims included students from South Korea, Nigeria and Nepal. They ranged in age from 21 to 40.
Goh took his car and drove five miles before walking into a grocery store and confessing. Police have yet to find his gun, which is believed to have been bought legally.
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