Beautiful college dean, 35, dies after horrific act of 'workplace violence' by male colleague
A much-loved college dean has been killed in a crazed shooting, allegedly at the hands of a campus security guard who also injured another woman during the bloodshed.
Jesse Figueroa, 40, shot Cameisha Denise Clark, 35, at the Spartan College of Aeronautics and Technology in Inglewood close to Los Angeles on Friday.
Clark died from a gunshot wound in hospital on Monday, while another woman was treated for injuries. The shooting was described by the mayor as targeted.
Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan J. Hochman said Figueroa has been charged with murder and attempted murder over the horrific incident.
Figueroa also faces several further counts for possessing a firearm as a felon. He is due to appear in court May 29 and could face life in jail if convicted.
Inglewood Mayor James Butts said the tragedy appeared to be an incident of 'workplace violence', but charging documents did not lay out a possible motive.
'(Figueroa) was a current employee at the college... he had some disagreement about something he felt that the dean had done,' Butts added.
Clark's family said she had been recently promoted to dean at the school.
'Cameisha uplifted everyone fortunate enough to cross her path,' her family said in a statement to KNBC.
'Her leadership, integrity, and deep sense of purpose helped shape futures of countless students from the campus of Clark Atlanta University to Spartan College.
'She believed in the potential of others even when they could not yet see it in themselves.'
Social media was flooded with tributes to the well-liked dean.
Friends remembered her as 'always smiling, always kind' and a 'girls' girl'.
'You couldn't find a single person with a bad word to say about her, because there wasn't one. She was that person,' one friend wrote on Facebook.
'The one who did everything right. She gave life everything she had, worked hard, loved harder, and still got taken from us.'
Clark earned her doctoral degree with a 3.9 GPA, according to the friend, before landing her 'dream job' at the California college 'far from her home' in Atlanta.
'That's not easy and she did it with grace,' her friend wrote. 'And now she's gone? It's not fair. It's not right. I'm furious. I'm shattered.'
Los Angeles County District Attorney's office said the Figueroa had previous convictions, though they did not reveal what they were.
District Attorney Hochman condemned the rampage as a 'horrific act of gun violence' which shook the close-knit college.
'Any student, faculty member or employee should feel safe and secure going to school,' he said in a statement.
'This horrific act of gun violence has shaken Spartan College and our entire community.
'We will file all appropriate gun enhancements in this case and send a clear message to criminals that violence will not be tolerated in Los Angeles County.'
Figueroa was pictured during his arrest, wearing a white t-shirt and black jeans. It's not known whether cops snared him or if he surrendered.
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