UCLA student's throat slashed in chem lab

[tricky_ab]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091009/..._ucla_stabbing (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091009/ap_on_re_us/us_ucla_stabbing)

LOS ANGELES – Students and faculty at UCLA are stunned following a horrific attack in a campus chemistry lab in which a male student allegedly slashed the throat of a female student.

The woman underwent surgery for multiple stab wounds at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center and was in stable condition Thursday night, Los Angeles police said.

Damon Thompson, 20, was arrested in the same chemistry building shortly after the stabbing Thursday. He was booked Thursday night on suspicion of attempted murder and was being held on $1 million bail, said Los Angeles police Officer Sara Faden.

UCLA spokesman Phil Hampton said the victim and suspect were both 20-year-old seniors taking an organic chemistry class along with other students who were in the undergraduate teaching lab at the time.

Cyril Baida, a teaching assistant who was working in a lab across the hall, said he saw the victim stagger out of the lab while another teaching assistant applied pressure to her neck, Baida said.

"The poor girl was completely drenched with blood. She was talking at first but then she started fading away," he said. "We told her she was going to be fine and to keep breathing so she didn't pass out. I told the other TA that he was doing great so he didn't faint either."

Baida said he did not know the victim or the suspect but was told that they were lab partners or had worked together in a small group on projects in their lab section.

Los Angeles city police and campus police interviewed about 30 witnesses who were in or near the lab and might have seen the attack, Campus Police Assistant Chief Jeff Young said. The motive is under investigation.

"Her TA — that guy deserves a medal. He had his hands around her wounds and was yelling, 'Call 911,'" said Baida, a 26-year-old biochemistry graduate student. "I called 911 and told him to bring her into our lab. He kept holding her so she wouldn't bleed until the paramedics arrived."

Baida said the organic chemistry lab where the attack took place is a demanding class.

"All my students have taken it and they hate it. Usually people bond during classes like that because they have to study together. I don't think it was so tough that it makes people go crazy," he said. "It's awful, but things like this can happen anywhere."

UCLA Chancellor Gene D. Block said the campus community was shocked by the attack and "wishing for the speedy recovery of the young woman who was injured."

Organic Chemistry IS a hard subject (I've seen plenty of freaked/stressed out undergrads because of it), but not hard enough to kill someone over.

[xBlastoisex]

so wait, he did it because he was pissed off? or what im confused.

[dt-p88]

that's not cool a guy slashing a girls throat WOW :down:

[Edgar]

What is wrong with people now days. shame!

[tricky_ab]

so wait, he did it because he was pissed off? or what im confused.

As of right now, it sounds like this kid was stressed the hell out and snapped (thus the incident)...

[driftsilvias13]

after reading this, i keep on checking my neck.

[sileighty83]

seriously no matter how tough shit gets, you don't go slashing ppls throats WTH is wrong with ppl

[Mi Beardo es Loco]

I don't know what the other guys are thinking. I witnessed a guy smack his girl and I beat the everloving shit out of him. Sometimes shit goes well beyond being in shock. It's like when the terrorists took over a plane with a box cutter. I couldn't help but think "c'mon". Even if he had a knife, you have to go after him with a stool or something. I just would think that the natural reaction of a human is trying to stop a bad thing from happening, not just stand there in shock.

[qt_240]

Mann... I remember Organic Chemistry .. I hated every moment of that class ... ESP. Lab.. but damn slashing a girl's throat over it.. that guy had issues...

[turbobrick]

I thought organic chemistry was fun.

[ronmcdon]

so many violent crimes these days, geez.
wonder if there's any correlation with the economy.

[zylvia213]

yea no reason for people to start getting all crazy like that. Thats some crazy ass shit yo!

[azndoc]

Whoa rethinking going to UCLA now.

[tsx1racer04]

Sucks, I heard about this last night while in my chem lab class in ucsb. So sad, after hearing that and doing my lab, I was seriously guarding myself.

[I LUV MY S13]

yea man this guy has other issues....school gets tough but i would never even think about doing crazy shit like this

[sacco sideways]

not going to go to that school....

[zylvia213]

thats like faces of death status.

[ixfxi]

Baida said the organic chemistry lab where the attack took place is a demanding class.


Demanding, eh?


Fucking students are pathetic. You wanna know demanding, run a business and pay your taxes. Get married and have children.... we'll see how fucking hard "chem lab" is then.


Fucking pussies. I can see Chris Rock say it now "Damn this class is so demanding, make me wanna slit a throat up in here"

[Homer_Simpson]

Both of the O-chem labs were enjoyable for me, easy A classes. I can't imagine how it could piss off someone enough to do something like this.

[ronmcdon]

Trying to find parking in UCLA makes me want to slit my own throat.
God, I dread that campus.

[aziankingz]

maybe that girl stole his parking spot?

[ZX88]

my ex girlfriend use to tell me all the time how much she hated orgo. Hearing her complain drilled it into my head to never take those courses.

[DCP94]

wow Orgo is bad but damn, this dude probably had other problems too

[Sleepy240]

The article lacks alot of details IMO. They leave it WAY open to interp. Were they actually just "lab partners"? From what I can gather there is more motivation than a class being difficult. If the class was that difficult (IMO) he would have commited suicide rather than murder somebody else. This story is like Transformers, more than meets the eye.

[ronmcdon]

Well the article did state that motives were still under investigation.
It was merely described what happened, and that the victim & culprit knew each other.

The TA didn't say that the class causes homicide.
On the contrary, he just said he doesn't think it's so bad it would cause ppl to "go crazy" (and murder one another possibly?).
I wouldn't even bother speculating about the motives without more info.

"I don't think it was so tough that it makes people go crazy,"

[drift_limo]

seriously no matter how tough shit gets, you don't go slashing ppls throats WTH is wrong with ppl

people nothing
society ... everything.

thats funny dude gets mads then slashes throat...

people sigh*

[Bubbles]

I slept with my chemistry lab partner in college and was trying to give it a go with her blonde friend. (who wasn't having it)


But yeah, slashing her neck would have been fun to.

[RiversideS13]

my friend from ucla biochem major said people try to mess each other's experiment all the time, so he was afraid to go to restroom at middle of lab.

[jskateborders]

I thought organic chemistry was fun.

wow, you would make bank tutoring then. Of all of the pre-med, pre-pharm I know, your the only person Ive ever heard say that

[SochBAT]

From my sister, "I'm not smart enough to be near there, so I'm okay."

[Enna]

I bet she turned him down.

[theicecreamdan]

Baida said the organic chemistry lab where the attack took place is a demanding class.


Demanding, eh?


Fucking students are pathetic. You wanna know demanding, run a business and pay your taxes. Get married and have children.... we'll see how fucking hard "chem lab" is then.


Fucking pussies. I can see Chris Rock say it now "Damn this class is so demanding, make me wanna slit a throat up in here"

Oh please, running a business and paying taxes isn't that hard.

For a lot of people organic chemistry is a class that will decide whether you make it into med school or not.

I'd say at least 75% of the people in my o chem class are planning on going to med school, a few of them actually have a shot at making it.

Organic chemistry IS a demanding class, and most of the people in it have ambitions a lot higher than running some small business that the world could easily do without.

All that said, nobody needs to be slashing any throats over anything, much less who gets to use the fume hood closest to their desk.

[DALAZ_68]

txt from my friend...

Oh yeah, it was in a bio/chem lab. crazy asian nerds...who knew?

[Kouki_Love]

Wtf is wrong with people thesr days.......

[ixfxi]

Oh please, running a business and paying taxes isn't that hard.

oh 24-year old ice cream dan, you certainly are the kanye west of zilvia. please share with us some of your most notable accomplishments and achievements.


For a lot of people organic chemistry is a class that will decide whether you make it into med school or not.

i dunno about you, but i've always felt that scholastic achievements are overrated. Not all, but many. There are plenty of successful individuals who start from nothing. Conversely, i've met far too many individuals with degrees who think they lead a different life than common blue-collar workers such as plumbers or electricians and think that their shit dont stink.


Organic chemistry IS a demanding class, and most of the people in it have ambitions a lot higher than running some small business that the world could easily do without.

haha.. i think i am gonna close my useless business and be your chem partner... that way i can cut your fuckin throat.

[theicecreamdan]

I believe that TONS of scholastic achievements are completely overrated. What we're talking about here is on the way to something that is a legitimately real achievement.

Running a business is definitely demanding, I've run a small bar that I inherited after my dad died. I got out of that asap, I wrote the checks, dealt with IRS, dealt with drunks that are pains in the ass.

Oh, and please don't slit my throat. You can have the fume hood next to your equipment locker.

[choleboy]

she prolly called him ugly

[kyoru]

I have to agree, this article lacks a lot of detail...we don't know what happened before hand. But yeah slashing a girls throat is a thumbs down.

[ixfxi]

I have to agree, this article lacks a lot of detail...we don't know what happened before hand. But yeah slashing a girls throat is a thumbs down.

i agree... slashing a girl's throat is a big thumbs down.


strangling is much more convenient, and without the bloody mess.

[fastandlow]

what ever happened to
getting drunk
smoking some green
and getting laid
isnt that the best way to deal with stress in school?

[tricky_ab]

what ever happened to
getting drunk
smoking some green
and getting laid
isnt that the best way to deal with stress in school?

I guess not these days...