On Thursday, October 8, a young Belizean studying at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) was involved in a stabbing incident that almost cost the life of one of his fellow classmates. Damon Thompson, 20, who is accused of stabbing Katherine Rosen, 20, in the university chemistry lab, was arraigned in court on Tuesday, October 13 on a charge of attempted premeditated murder.
Thompson pleaded not guilty to the charge when he appeared at the Airport Branch Courthouse. His bail has been upgraded from 1 million to 3 million dollars. As is customary in all United States jurisdictions, he has been provided with a Public Defender, Robin Berkovitz.
Reports out of Los Angeles say that Thompson took a six-inch long kitchen knife inside the university’s Young Hall, Chemistry Lab, and used the weapon to stab Rosen five times. The incident occurred shortly after noon. She was stabbed three times in an arm and hand and once each in the back and neck.
The incident occurred in the presence of around thirty witnesses. The blood flow was staunched by a teaching assistant and a professor, who applied pressure to the victim’s neck, reported the Los Angeles Times.
Rosen is said to be recovering at the Ronald Regan, UCLA Medical Center, where she was rushed into emergency surgery following the stabbing.
Thompson, reports say, walked calmly into a student information office and told staff members that he had just stabbed someone. He was immediately arrested by campus policemen.
The victim, according to a Los Angeles Daily News report, is expected to recover. Henry Gill Cryer, the hospital’s chief of trauma surgery, said today the victim was out of intensive care and “out of danger – and she is in good condition.”
No one really knows why Thompson attacked his classmate. But according to a report that is in circulation by one of his former professors, Stephen Frank, who teaches a course in Western Civilization, told reporters that he had concerns about Thompson from as far back as last year October. Frank said that Thompson had sent him some troubling e-mails, alleging that he was being taunted by his fellow students.
Thompson is quoted as telling the professor in one of his e-mails that: “I believe I heard you, Professor Frank, say that I was ‘troubled’ and ‘crazy’ among other things.My outrage at this situation, coupled with the pressure of the very weighted examination, dulled my concentration and detracted from my performance.”
Thompson is a nephew of Amandala’s printer Kent Brooks. Brooks told us that his nephew showed no signs of any serious mental problem, as one very biased article by James Buchanan tried to make out.
Brooks said that his nephew had e-mailed his mother and family and told them that he was having problems at the UCLA campus and that he wanted to come home. He said that his mother told him to come home, but he later changed his mind and told her that he would continue with his studies.
Damon Thompson is a graduate of St John’s College Junior College. He has been at UCLA for two years, according to his uncle.