MUSLIM LOVE OF DEATH
Campus stabber's manifesto included 'praise for Allah,' plan for beheading
By Malia Zimmerman and Hollie McKay
November 07, 2015
FoxNews.com
A
handwritten manifesto carried by a California college student whose
stabbing spree Wednesday left four wounded bore names of his targets, a
vow “to cut someone’s head off” and as many as five reminders to
“praise Allah,” law enforcement authorities told FoxNews.com, while
insisting that neither terrorism nor religion appear to be motives in
the attack.
In
the two-page document found in Faisal Mohammad’s pocket by the county
coroner, the 18-year-old freshman wrote a numeric list outlining his
plans of who he wanted to kill, and how, including beheading and
shooting his victims, Merced County Sheriff Vern Warnke told FoxNews.com
“No.
27 was to ‘make sure people are tied down,’ No. 28 was “sit down and
praise Allah,'” Warnke said. “I remember seeing four or five times,
scribbled on the side of the two-page manifesto, where he wrote
something like ‘praise Allah.’”
The manifesto has not been released, but Warnke expects it to be within the next few days.
Mohammad’s
intended bloodbath began around 8 a.m., when he burst into his
classroom with an 8-inch hunting knife. Police said it would have
continued - and possibly claimed lives - if he hadn’t been interrupted
by a construction team, and then shot dead by police.
“There
was a gruesome statement he made about wanting to cut someone’s head
off and kill two people with one bullet, and he planned to shoot the
police,” Warnke said. “He did not have a firearm with him and didn’t
seem to have a lot of experience with firearms because he thought he
could kill two people with one bullet. He reminded himself in the list
to raise the gun slowly. He scripted everything out in chronological
order.”
But
all law enforcement involved in the investigation, including Warnke,
continued to maintain that there is no evidence Mohammed is tied to a
terrorist group or was inspired by terrorists.
“There
was nothing to indicate he was doing this because of Allah, or because
he was going to be rewarded with 72 virgins, or because of ties to a
terror group,” Warnke said. “He appeared to be a devout Muslim, on the
strong side of the belief.”
The FBI is thoroughly investigating this angle, Warnke said.
“There
was nothing on his computer or in his dorm room or in the manifesto to
suggest any ties to terrorism or terrorists groups,” Warnke said.
As a wannabe killer, Mohammed was cold and calculating.
Mohammed
slashed and stabbed four people, including two students, a student aide
and Byron Price, a 31-year-old construction manager who intervened.
"He
had a smile on his face, he was having fun, which is more the thing
that bothers me," said Byron Price, who was managing the construction
site at the university for his family’s construction company.
Mohammed
fled the classroom after he was overwhelmed by Price and another
construction worker who was about to hit Mohammed with a ladder.
“He
was banking on the fear factor. …His plan went haywire because people
fought back,” Warnke said. “He got so befuddled at the activities that
happened; it took the script away from him.”
Mohammed claimed in his manifesto he was angry over being kicked out of a study group.
“I
think the first kid he targeted had something to do with the study
group he was in but that is an issue I don’t want to speculate on
because the campus police are looking into it,” Warnke said.
Byron Price, who was slashed in the abdomen and was hospitalized, is back at work today.
His
father, John Price, told FoxNews.com he is proud of his son and hopes
more people will be inspired to intervene should they be confronted
with situations like this.
The other three victims are expected to survive.
While
the victims’ names won’t be disclosed, law enforcement is investigating
whether he had ties to the two students and aide he attacked.
Classes
resumed Friday. Chancellor Dorothy Leland welcomed back students with a
message to "practice kindness" and offer support to one another.
Mohammad,
a resident of Santa Clara, had just turned 18 in October, and was
studying computer science and engineering major at the Northern
California college.
Mohammad's family has not come forward and attempts to locate them were unsuccessful.