Oct 22, 2009 12:26 pm US/Pacific
Sac State Officials: No Early Signs Of Trouble
SACRAMENTO (CBS13) ―
-
-
Sac State student Quran Jones is accused of killing fellow student, Scott Gregory Hawkins.
Facebook
-
-
Scott Hawkins was pronounced dead after the fight in the Sacramento State dorm building.
CBS
Sacramento State University officials say that before Wednesday's brawl, there was no indication of bad blood between the two students who were involved in the fight.
The suspect and victim had had been living together in a suite with separate bedrooms and a shared kitchen and living room since the beginning of August.
"From what we learned from the residence hall staff, the five suite mates got along fairly well," said Dr. Lori Varlotta, Vice President for Student Affairs. "We are not aware of any incident or ongoing altercation between any of the five suite mates."
Administrators say they do not know what sparked the fight.
"We do not know if there was a verbal altercation," said Dr. Varlotta.
Earlier Thursday, the Sacramento County Coroner identified the victim of yesterday's bloody exchange as 23-year-old Scott Hawkins of Santa Clara.
His alleged killer, 19-year-old Quran Jones, was shot and wounded by police.
At around 2 p.m. Wednesday, campus police were called when students heard a fight and a window shatter on a first floor dorm room. The responding officers found 19-year-old Quran Jones armed with a knife refusing to come out.
Hawkins was unconscious on the floor severely beaten.
Police shot pellets filled with pepper spray at Jones, but when he came at them with the knife, they shot him. In total, three shots were fired.
"The suspect charged officers with a knife and officers returned fire," said Sacramento Police Sgt. Norm Leong.
"They were telling him 'get down!' I guess he wouldn't," said Sacramento State student Jonquil Williams. "We heard three gunshots after that."
Jones is still in the hospital. After he is released, he will be booked on suspicion of murder and attempted murder of a police officer.
About 60 students were in the corridor when the incident happened, and the University's administration has received several complaints about how they handled the emergency. But university President Alexander Gonzalez defended the school's response.
"What you saw yesterday was a team that responded exactly as it should have," said Sacramento State University President Alexander Gonzalez. "Everyone was involved or got involved. We got student affairs people involved, not only police. I was here. Everyone that was appropriate was involved and we got the information out as soon as we thought that we could without causing a panic."
Hawkins' mother told university officials that her son had a form of autism.
The students who also lived in the suite are being relocated to other suites.
"There was some damage to the suite, as you learned," said Dr. Varlotta.
The two police officers involved in the incident are now on official leave.
The investigation is ongoing.
(© MMX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
Click to enlarge
Click to enlarge
Click to enlarge
Click to enlarge
Click to enlarge
Click to enlarge
Click to enlarge
Stumble It!
Comments