UCLA Student Charged With Attempted Murder in Stabbing

Damon Thompson has been charged with attempted murder in the stabbing of a fellow UCLA student in a chemistry lab last Thursday. Thompson pleaded not guilty, and his bail was set at $3 million after a judge determined Thompson—a Belize native— was a risk to leave the country, UCLA's Daily Bruin reports.

The victim, whose family chose not to release her name, is in critical but improving condition at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center, according to the Los Angeles Times. The district attorney says the attack was premeditated.

"We're under the assumption now that it's an unprovoked attack," Mike Pelletier, a Los Angeles Police Department detective, tells the Daily Bruin. "There's no evidence to show there's any reason for the attack."

A history professor at UCLA, Stephen Frank, told a university administrator 10 months ago that he was concerned about Thompson's mental health, the Times reports. Thompson took Frank's Western civilization class. According to the same Times report, Frank says that other professors had similar issues with Thompson.

While the case moves to the courts, the stabbing has raised major concerns about campus security at UCLA.

"We need to be focusing on student safety," a friend of the victims tells the Daily Bruin.

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