UCLA lab students watched in horror as male classmate slashed female student's throat

[frenchtoast]

This is awful!!! It seems like this type of stuff is ALWAYS happening in schools, where we should feel at least somewhat safe.

[moi et mes sacs]

Somehow the world got more violent. I wish we could work out why. I hope she makes it.

[carousel eyes]

I'm sorry, but I hate how papers even bother to write those articles were relatives talk about how innocent the perpetrator is and how s/he would never do anything. Well, obviously they did. It just gets so old.

So glad the girl is okay! I wonder if it really was just a dramatic one-time argument or if this was carried over from another incident.

[HandbagLuvr]

The type of crime happening on campuses lately is shocking. When I was in college my biggest fear was walking alone on campus in the dark. It never crossed my mind that I had to fear students in the classroom.

[Vinyl]

Quote:

UCLA Professor Says He Voiced Concerns About Slashing Suspect's Mental Health A history professor at the University of California at Los Angeles who has taught the student accused of slashing a female classmate's throat last week says he raised concerns about the student's mental health nearly a year ago, the Los Angeles Times reports. The accused student, identified as Damon Thompson, had written in e-mail messages to the professor that he believed other students and the professor himself had taunted him during an examination. University officials would not disclose how they responded to any information they had received about the student, citing privacy laws. Mr. Thompson is being held on $1-million bail on suspicion of attempted murder. Investigators so far have discovered no motivation for the attack on the classmate, a 20-year-old woman. Her condition is improving, according to family members.

Source

[carousel eyes]

Ugh, this happens too much! People always say they question the mental health of students who're committing these heinous crimes, but administration does nothing about it! WHY?! C'MON NOW.

[Jahpson]

^ thats what Im saying. Its so sad that these tragedies always start with a warning. In this case, the professor concerend about his mental health a whole year ago

[yeliab]

Did they reveal the motive in this attempted murder?

I really don't understand - if professors/counselors knew ahead of time that this student (whether at UCLA, Virginia Tech, Columbine, etc) had "mental" issues - WHY did they not stop them? Or at least intervene??

Troubling...

[Vinyl]

From Oct. 13:

Quote:

Attorney for UCLA slashing suspect: "A sad situation for all parties involved" The defense attorney for the UCLA student accused of slashing the throat of a classmate last week said today the incident was "a sad situation for all parties involved." The suspect, Damon Thompson, allegedly stabbed a classmate five times and slashed her throat in a crime prosecutors said Wednesday was premeditated and unprovoked. Thompson was charged today with one count of attempted murder in the Oct. 8 attack in a chemistry class in Young Hall. If convicted, Thompson faces life in state prison with the possibility of parole. Thompson, 20, pleaded not guilty but was ordered held on $3-million bail by Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Keith L. Schwartz after prosecutors argued the Belize native was a flight risk. Defense attorney Robin B. Berkovitz described her client as a hard-working biochemistry major with no prior criminal record. She said his mother flew in from Belize and father came from out of state to attend the arraignment at the Airport Courthouse. “I was assigned to the case today. There is a lot of information that has yet to be presented,” Berkovitz said. Despite initial reports that there was an argument between the students, prosecutors said that Thursday’s attack was unprovoked and that Thompson pulled out a knife and began stabbing the student for no apparent reason. Authorities said the victim, identified in court as 20-year-old Katherine Rosen, had five stab wounds and had her throat slashed.

Source

[Vinyl]

A local Belizean news site has this tidbit:

Quote:

Thompson, an A -student with consistent excellent academic performance is an only child of Judith Brook a legal clerk with the Legal Advice and Services Centre in Belize City. While the US media has painted a negative picture of Thompson, sources close to him and his family indicated that prior to this incident he had made countless complaints against classmates and this specific lab partner but with no results. Contrary to US media reports, Thompson did know Rosen who was his lab partner and who has been very offensive to him on previous occasions and even the day in question. Now UCLA in an attempt to shift blame away from itself has sought to discredit the mental stability of Thompson by using his many complaints by e-mail as an indication of instability. But according to KTLA news, a professor who taught Thompson said he told a university administrator he was worried about the student's mental health 10 months ago. UCLA history professor Stephen Frank, who taught him Western civilization late last year admits that Thompson sent him several emails complaining that classmates sitting around him had been disruptive and made offensive comments to him while he was taking a written exam and even accused the Professor of taunting him. One e-mail stated "I believe I heard you, Professor Frank, say that I was 'troubled' and 'crazy' among other things," Thompson wrote. "My outrage at this situation coupled with the pressure of the very weighted examination dulled my concentration and detracted from my performance." Frank said he was present during the entire exam, that Thompson sat in the front row and that he saw nothing to support the student's complaints. Frank said he was told that other professors had reported similar exchanges with Thompson, who complained he was taunted by other students -- in class, the dorms, dining areas and the library. A university official told Frank that he could only suggest that Thompson seek treatment, but they couldn't require him to seek psychological help. "My concern was in the context of other violent incidents on campuses around the country," Frank said. Sources close to his family explain that Thompson frequently spoke with his mother and complained about the many things student had done to him and the names he was called even by the female students. However, they explain that the problem had to be extreme for Thompson to have reacted so violently. UCLA spokeswoman Carol Stogsdill said university officials were forbidden by federal privacy laws from discussing how the school may have handled any complaints about Thompson's behavior.

Source

[seaotta]

I can't believe he pleaded not guilty. I guess I don't know how the whole court thing works when it gets to it, but you slashed a girl's throat in front of a bunch of witnesses then turned yourself in. I just don't get it.

[sweetdreamer16]

omg how horrible!!! wonder what caused him to snap since he had no known violence

[olialm1]

I cannot believe what I just read.

I wonder what his punishment is going to be. What in the world was this loony thinking when he did this?!!?!

[ilovepinkhearts]

im dumbfounded...he is 20 and he thinks that is how people should act when someone "taunts" him??...he does sound very unstable, and apparently he was a ticking time bomb. i hope the young lady makes a full recovery and i hope the guy enjoys some well deserved jail time...

[ShimmaPuff]

Originally Posted by yeliab

...I really don't understand - if professors/counselors knew ahead of time that this student (whether at UCLA, Virginia Tech, Columbine, etc) had "mental" issues - WHY did they not stop them? Or at least intervene??

I think it has a lot to do with the way that mental illness is perceived.

Culturally, mental illness has a very strong stigma attached to it.

Though you don't hear people express it exactly as ancient ancestors did - caused by evil spirits - it is still essentially considered a crime, as you can see whenever someone with mental illness has a psychotic episode and harms or kills someone else, no one says, too bad he didn't get treatment sooner, I sure hope he is able to recover, they talk about punishing the person.

And if the act was really gruesome, then we get into the whole thing of people wanting to emulate it, glorify it, be part of it and perpetuate it, show that they can think of even more gruesome ways to harm another person. That's just one of our human traits that we've chosen to cultivate and encourage.

In addition, treatment for any illness is a very high-dollar product, it's even more costly than the fees charged by post-secondary educational institutions.

So slapping the label of mental illness on someone, especially someone whose parents are already sending checks to the entity that pays your check, is not something to take lightly.

In the short term, it could result in the cessation of revenue from that student, since the parents would probably not be able to afford both treatment of an illness and college, and in the long term, it could impact that young person's ability to obtain everything from further education to employment to a car loan to the ability to rent a car or an apartment.

It can be a real catch-22. If the person continues receiving treatment for the illness, that impact can go on virtually all their lives.

If they stop getting treatment, depending on which bureau or whatever is being checked, the "black mark" might disappear after a long time.

I've noticed a definite uptrend in "social cost" stories recently, my guess is that will continue for a while, and then taper off, as the situations themselves transition away from unusual to routine.