7 dead, 3 hurt in Calif. school shooting

OAKLAND, Calif. -- A gunman opened fire yesterday at a Christian university, killing at least seven people, wounding three more and setting off an intense, chaotic manhunt that ended with his capture an hour later at a nearby shopping center, authorities said.

The gunfire erupted around midmorning at Oikos University. Heavily armed officers swarmed the school in a large industrial park near the Oakland airport and, for at least an hour, believed the gunman could still be inside.

Later Monday, police identified the suspect as former student One L. Goh, 43, of Oakland.

Tashi Wangchuk, whose wife attended the school and witnessed the shooting, said police told him the gunman first shot a woman at the front desk, then continued shooting randomly in classrooms.

Wangchuk said his wife, Dechen Wangzom, was in her vocational nursing class when she heard gunshots. She locked the door and turned off the lights, Wangchuk said he was told by his wife, who was still being questioned by police yesterday afternoon.

The gunman "banged on the door several times and started shooting outside and left," he said. Wangchuk said no one was hurt inside his wife's classroom, but that the gunman shot out the glass in the door. He said she did not know the man.

"She's a hero," he said.

Police spokeswoman Cynthia Perkins said seven people were dead, but she did not offer any details about the victims.

Police believe Goh acted alone. They have not discussed a possible motive.

Those connected to the school, including the founder and several students, described Goh as a former nursing student.

Officer Johnna Watson said the suspect was taken into custody at a Safeway supermarket in a shopping center in the neighboring city of Alameda, about three miles from the university.

A security guard at the supermarket approached the man because he was acting suspiciously, KGO-TV reported. The man told the guard he needed to talk to police because he shot people, and the guard called authorities.

Angie Johnson told the San Francisco Chronicle that she saw a young woman leave the building with blood coming from her arm and crying: "I've been shot. I've been shot." The injured woman said the shooter was a man in her nursing class who got up and shot one person at point-blank range in the chest before spraying the room with bullets, Johnson said.

According to its website, Oikos University also offers studies in music and nursing.

Jerry Sung, the university's accountant, said the school offers courses in both Korean and English to fewer than 100 students. He said the campus consisted of one building.