As students, there’s always the threat of campus violence, especially when it comes to rampant gun violence and mass shootings. In recent news, on April 27th, an ex-student at UC Davis, Carlos Reales Dominguez, was arrested for homicide and attempted homicide following his recent stabbings at UCD.
The first victim was fifty year-old David Henry Breaux, who was last seen in Davis’s downtown area. Next, UCD’s own student, Karim Majdi Abou Najm—who was a senior close to graduating with a BS in computer science—was Dominguez’s second victim. Lastly, a homeless woman was stabbed through her tent and left in critical condition, though she’s quickly making her way towards recovery.
As of now, Dominguez is pleading not guilty, and he’s eligible for a life prison term without parole. In the wake of his arrest, this devastating affliction calls into question the preventative measures and resources that the school has in place. What were the responses from UCD faculty? How were students supported amidst this dangerous predicament?
Well, students have gone to Reddit and other forms of social media to express their concerns regarding student safety, igniting a conversation about how the professors themselves responded to the crimes during the time Dominguez was still roaming about the area. Criticisms of how professors demanded students attend class during these scary times have been circulating online; some professors even hesitated switching in-person class to Zoom, and these delayed reactions only spurred on more paranoia throughout campus.
Reddit user, Ternicator, commented their thoughts on the matter by writing on the r/UCDAVIS thread, “I am genuinely in a state of disbelief after last night as I was unable to sleep all throughout it, and yet there are still professors that are planning to host classes as if nothing isn’t happening?”
Katrina on TikTok also commented on the matter in her video, saying, “3 stabbings at UC Davis in the past week, but most classes are still in person without accommodations, there is no real patrolling and the PD is being accused of not taking any tips seriously.”
There was a plethora of students who spoke up about how they emailed their professors explaining how they didn’t feel safe going to class, though most professors encouraged they attend while others eventually switched to Zoom after much debate. Each professor had their own manner of responding to the incident, but nonetheless, the lack of direct communication between teachers and students contributed to the escalating uneasiness pervading through UCD. Additionally, only after students voiced their concerns did the school release a statement about switching evening classes to online, in which they also tripled the security around campus.
There’s a recurring theme of colleges lacking a quick response time to various crimes surrounding the campus. Students have a right to criticize their methods, especially when an overwhelming amount of students are flocking to social media for support.
UCSB’s no stranger to this problem either; the Gaucho Grabber was one case that rattled UCSB students in Spring of 2022. While the assailant was eventually taken into custody, it was pointed out that he was previously arrested in 2018 for the same offenses and released, which only highlights the obvious problem with our justice system.
Concerns for student safety have always been disputed, and with our nation’s history of school violence, it’s something that lingers at the backs of students’ minds. UCD’s stabbings is yet another tragedy that embodies this fear, and the delayed reactions to increasing security to this incident is disappointing.
However, with students speaking up on these matters, there’s the hope that college campuses will place even more effort on crime preventative measures—whether that looks like adding more streetlights along shadowed pathways or even increasing the amount of patrol around campus. While crime exists everywhere and is impossible to control, schools can still take extra caution by re-evaluating their safety practices and keeping their students’ well-beings as their main priority.