UC Merced attacker armed with 8–10 inch hunting knife, sheriff says

The chancellor of UC Merced joined with law enforcement to hold a press conference this afternoon on the stabbing attack on the campus that wounded four and led campus police to fatally shoot the suspect.

#NEW: Picture from the scene of campus attack sent to me by @thekidfrommarz @ABC30 pic.twitter.com/yI6Cnjy9Pd

— Corin Hoggard (@corinhoggard) November 4, 2015

So far, officials are not releasing the name of the suspect, nor are they prepared to comment on a motive for the early morning stabbings, which injured two students, a construction worker and a vendor.

Sheriff Vern Warnke says assailant will not be identified until family is notified. pic.twitter.com/fhlNRy72hh

— UC Merced (@ucmerced) November 5, 2015

Suspect's family is out of this area. https://t.co/u1Zae6i1lF

— Veronica Miracle (@ABC7Veronica) November 5, 2015

Two victims were students, one staff and one contract employee, per UC Merced Chancellor Dorothy Leland.

— Jeff Jardine (@JeffJardine57) November 5, 2015

UC Merced Chancellor described mass stabbing as "a tragic accident" before correcting herself, calling it "a tragic event."

— Evan Onstot (@EvanOnstot) November 5, 2015

UC Merced chancellor: "It's concerning that we have a culture of violence in the United States." pic.twitter.com/P9F9uMKVV5

— Matthew Keys (@MatthewKeysLive) November 5, 2015

The male student, whose name hasn’t been released, apparently set upon other students with a knife during an altercation in a classroom at about 8 a.m. and then stabbed the worker as he opened a classroom door to view the disturbance, authorities said. A report in the Merced Sun-Star said the attacker, who has still not been named, then left the classroom, went down the stairs and stabbed a female university employee who was sitting on a bench.

Contract worker acted valiantly in intervening, say both Chancellor and Sheriff.

— UC Merced (@ucmerced) November 5, 2015

https://twitter.com/GrasswireNow/status/662060458740948992

Merced sheriff says suspect stabbed one @ucmerced victim from behind as she was sitting "minding her own business." pic.twitter.com/A3SR5LfLzI

— Laura Anthony (@LauraAnthony7) November 5, 2015

Suspect in UC Merced incident was chased by 2 police officers after stabbing 4 people

— Salvador Hernandez (@SalHernandez) November 5, 2015

Chief Vasquez shares information available at this time. #NOW pic.twitter.com/ruOHyo7z1i

— UC Merced (@ucmerced) November 5, 2015

.@ucmerced police chief Albert Vasquez says we're fortunate it wasn't worse thanks to heroic actions of campus PD. pic.twitter.com/wfkslqBR4E

— Corin Hoggard (@corinhoggard) November 5, 2015

To clarify, campus police are investigating the stabbing. The sheriff's office is investigating the shooting

— UC Merced (@ucmerced) November 5, 2015