A suspect connected to a shooting at Santa Monica College is dead after an
hours-long SWAT standoff in El Segundo Tuesday night.
The male suspect�s vehicle was spotted by police near El Segundo and
Aviation Boulevards at around 3 p.m. Following a short pursuit, he was
eventually boxed in and surrounded by SWAT vehicles.
Despite attempts by negotiators to get the suspect to surrender, he
eventually shot and killed himself, police said. He was later identified
as Davon Durell Dean, 29, an employee at Santa Monica College.
He was believed to be involved in a shooting on Monday night that left a
woman critically injured at the college�s Center for Media and Design
satellite campus at around 9:15 p.m.
Officials confirmed the woman who was shot was a long-time school
employee, reportedly a custodial operations manager. She was rushed to the
hospital with severe injuries and remained in critical condition on
Tuesday night.
Officers believe the woman may have been targeted in a case of workplace
violence. The motive behind the shooting remains unclear. Her identity was
not released.
�Durell has a history of arrests including for attempt murder in 2011 and
an assault with a deadly weapon, a firearm, in 2019,� authorities said.
�His only convictions were for misdemeanor property crimes.�
All Santa Monica College campuses were closed on Tuesday as police
investigated the incident.
Some students said they were upset they didn�t receive alerts about the
shooting until roughly three hours after it occurred.
�We were still on campus when the shooting was happening,� said Andre
Sajadi, a Santa Monica College student. �It�s absolutely ridiculous. It
could�ve been one of us.�
�When I found out and I got home, I was really shocked, because I would
think if there was a shooter on campus, then they would evacuate us which
they didn�t,� said Mandy Kohanim, another frustrated student.
Santa Monica Police believed the shooting was an isolated incident and
noted there was no threat to the public.
https://ktla.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2024/10/anaheim-police-dept-5.png
The suspected shooter, Davon Durell Dean, 29, is seen in a photo from the
Santa Monica Police Department.
However, Cory Wenter, a national security expert and CEO of Pangaea
Consulting, criticized the response time.
�If it took three hours to send out an emergency for a shooting on a
school then they were three hours too late to the game,� Wenter said.
With over 25,000 students enrolled at the college�s six satellite
campuses, police have deployed extra patrols on campus while urging
students and staff to stay at home. All classes and events at the college
were canceled Tuesday due to the investigation.
�The question that I have is, �What kind of person were they employing?��
said Liam Balul, a worried student. �It�s kind of jarring knowing somebody
capable of that was on campus.�
A statement from the Santa Monica College president Kathryn E. Jeffery was
released saying in part:
�� Here at SMC, we frequently refer to each other as family. At this
heartbreaking time, l urge us all to come together in kindness and
compassion as we navigate this unspeakable tragedy.�
Following Tuesday night�s standoff, roads near LAX on Aviation Boulevard
between El Segundo Boulevard and 124th Street remain closed as authorities
investigate the scene.
Anyone with information on the shooting can call Santa Monica Police at
310-395-9931.
This developing story will be updated.
https://ktla.com/news/local-news/santa-monica-college-shooting-suspect-dead-swat-standoff/
Santa Monica College shooting suspect dead after hours-long SWAT standoff