SandyMalonePomona, CA – A university police officer was murdered, and his attacker was shot dead by police, on the campus of California State Polytechnic University – Pomona (Cal Poly Pomona) on Friday.
The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said the 37-year-old campus security officer was found stabbed to death in his marked university vehicle at about 4:30 p.m. on June 29, in the 3500-block of West Pomona Boulevard, KNBC reported.
“This kind man, a public servant who lost his life today, was doing his job: protecting the staff and students at Cal Poly Pomona,” the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said in statement, according to ABC News. “We are saddened for the victim’s loved ones, friends and family.”
Police said a coworker of the murdered officer found him bleeding profusely from multiple stab wounds in the front seat of his truck. Law enforcement sources told the Los Angeles Times that the officer was stabbed and slashed in the neck.
Half a mile away, about 25 minutes later, the attacker was spotted by witnesses who said he was covered in blood and acting erratically, KNBC reported.
Police said the suspect got into an altercation with officers near University Road and Temple Avenue that led to police fatally shooting him.
It was not known what sparked that confrontation, but officials confirmed that a Pomona police officer and an officer from the Cal Poly police both opened fire on the suspect. The 31-year-old suspect was fatally shot, the Los Angeles Times reported.
It was not know which officer fired the fatal shot. No other officers were injured during the incident, according to Pomona Police Chief Michael Olivieri.
“I can confirm a murder of a Cal Poly Pomona Police Parking Officer, and Pomona Police officer-involved shooting with the suspect, who didn’t survive,” Chief Olivieri said in the first of a series of tweets he sent out during the investigation of the crime scenes.
“We do not believe there are additional suspects, but searches are taking place as a precaution,” the chief wrote.
A knife was recovered not far from the security officer’s truck, and investigators called the murder “quite brutal,” KNBC reported.
There was a “lot of blood on both scenes,” said Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Lieutenant John Corina. “It looked like the victim put up a heck of a fight.”
Whether the officer and his attacker were acquainted was unknown. Police said the man who stabbed the officer to death may have been a custodian at the university, ABC News reported.
The university sent out a safety alert shortly after the officer’s murder was discovered, and students and faculty were advised to avoid certain areas of the South Campus while police investigated what had happened, KNBC reported.
Chief Olivieri said that authorities had determined the two crime scenes were the jurisdiction of the Los Angeles County sheriff. Cal Poly Pomona is located about 25 miles east of Los Angeles, according to ABC News.
The sheriff’s department said the investigation is ongoing.