1996 San Diego State University shooting

On August 15, 1996, a master's thesis defense at San Diego State University's engineering building turned deadly when graduate student Frederick Martin Davidson opened fire on the faculty committee overseeing his defense. The meeting, attended by three professors and three other engineering students who came to support Davidson, began shortly before 2:00 p.m. After Chen Liang formally opened the session, Davidson handed Liang a printout of an email from a prospective employer indicating that his job offer depended on successfully defending his thesis. He then drew a 9mm handgun that he had hidden earlier in a first aid box on the wall and began shooting.

Davidson killed Liang first while he remained seated at the faculty table. He then shot O. Preston Lowrey III, who was attempting to flee through the room's main door, and Constantinos Lyrintzis, who fled into an adjoining classroom and hid under a table. Davidson reloaded and pursued Lyrintzis, fatally shooting him there. In total, Davidson fired 23 rounds, 16 of which struck the three professors. The three students present were not injured and escaped; one alerted others on the floor to evacuate. Davidson later said he had not intended to harm the students.

After the shooting, Davidson called 9-1-1 himself. University police found him in the third-floor hallway still holding the weapon, sobbing and asking officers to kill him; he surrendered without further incident. Investigators determined Davidson had planned the attack in advance, entering the room earlier that morning to conceal the handgun and five additional 15-round magazines inside a first aid kit. He left behind a note intended to accompany a murder-suicide, directing police to evidence and computer files at his home, though he did not take his own life.

According to San Diego Police Department findings, Davidson believed the three professors and the broader engineering department were conspiring against him. His thesis had previously been rejected, and he reportedly resented Liang, his graduate adviser, for giving him little credit for lab work. He believed Lyrintzis was blocking his efforts to find employment, and that Lowrey suspected him of academic dishonesty after seeing him with notes a student should not have had.

Three months after the shooting, a copycat threat flier containing racial insults and threats against professors was circulated. On July 19, 1997, Davidson was convicted under a plea agreement that spared him the death penalty; he was sentenced to three consecutive life terms without the possibility of parole. The university later dedicated L3 Memorial Park near the engineering building in 2003, and established the Preston Lowrey III Memorial Scholarship Fund shortly after the shooting.