Update, 3:20 p.m.:
The chancellor of the University of California, Merced, says the stabbings of four people by a student are a troubling act of violence that has left the rural campus shaken.
Chancellor Dorothy Leland said in a message to the UC Merced community Wednesday she is nonetheless thankful that wounds suffered by the stabbing victims do not appear to be life-threatening.
The suspected assailant was shot and killed by campus police. He has been identified only as a male student at the university.
Leland says that despite the mass shootings on college campuses that have prompted schools to create emergency plans like the one activated at UC Merced after the stabbings, having an attack hit so close to home was shocking.
She says the campus is expected to reopen on Friday.
Update, 2:05 p.m.:
Campus officials now say four people, not five, were stabbed at the University of California, Merced.
The university said on its verified Twitter account Wednesday that two students, one staff member and a vendor were wounded but were expected to recover. They said earlier in the day that five people were stabbed.
The attacker, a male student, was shot and killed by police.
Campus officials also said the rural campus would be closed Thursday and urged the community to seek counseling services that were available.
Update, 12:20 p.m.:
Officials say an attacker who stabbed five people at the University of California, Merced, before being shot and killed by police was a male student.
University spokesman James Leonard said the identity of the assailant hasn't been confirmed. Leonard says campus officials are working to establish a timeline of events that unfolded Wednesday morning.
Two victims were airlifted to hospitals, but their conditions weren't immediately known. Officials say three others had injuries minor enough for treatment on campus.
Phil Coba, a student government representative, says he has been told by numerous students that the stabbings started inside a classroom and continued outside before campus police shot and killed the attacker.
Coba says dining halls are providing free food to students and staff members who were on campus during the attack.
A campus official says the five people stabbed were conscious when paramedics reached them.
Original post:
Authorities say a suspect stabbed five people on the University of California, Merced, before police shot and killed him.
University spokeswoman Lorena Anderson said Wednesday that two of the victims were taken by helicopter to hospitals for treatment. She said the three other victims were treated locally. All victims were conscious.
Officials say the stabbings occurred in a classroom and office building shortly before 8 a.m.
From the Merced Sun-Star:
Merced County Sheriff Vern Warnke, whose agency is assisting in the investigation, said UC police shot and killed the suspect, described as a male student in his 20s. Warnke said officers were searching the campus for any additional victims.
Student Alex Lopez was heading to his class, when he realized something was wrong on campus. "I was listening to a podcast, and there was a break in talking, and I just hear a gunshot," he said.
He said police and first responders flooded the scene.
"You see this stuff all over the news and stuff, and you see it happen to all these other schools," but you don't expect it to happen at your school, said Lopez, 21.
Anderson said classes have been canceled for the day.
The rural school is about 120 miles south of Sacramento.
