A timeline of tragedy for SJSU 11:02 a.m. Two former students were shot at the 800 block of south Third Street, four blocks from the SJSU main campus and four blocks from South Campus. Eric Otokawa, 21, was pronounced dead on the scene. Names were withheld at this time.
6:08 a.m. There was an officer-involved shooting on the 700 block of Hillsdale drive.
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Third Sreet shooting suspect Ricardo Moreno was shot and killed by SJPD after making threatening gestures toward police.
Eric Otokawa
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South Campus
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Moreno shot by SJPD
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Kristina Pandula, 20, a pre-nursing major, dies in the hospital from injuries Sunday night.
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Information compiled by Jeffrey Cianci / Spartan Daily Infographic and maps by Leo Postovoit / Spartan Daily Source: Spartan Daily articles; SJPD press releases Photos courtesy of Facebook.com
SOUTH CAMPUS
OCT. 2011
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11:55 p.m. A Press release in regards to Third Street shooting was released by SJPD. 12:18 p.m. Names of Third St. Shooting victims, Pandula and Otokawa were released by San Jose Police.
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1:23 p.m. SJ Police issued a press release naming Jeff Harwell as the officer who was involved at the shooting at Hillsdale Ave., but not Moreno’s name nor his alleged connection to the Third Street shooting.
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6 p.m. SJPD announced that a police press conference in regards to development in the Third Street shooting case would be held Tuesday morning.
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President Mohammad Qayoumi addressed the SJSU community through an email to faculty and staff on Tuesday regarding the three student deaths that occurred last week, reassuring students and faculty that crime on campus is down. “My deepest condolences go out to the friends and loved ones of these young people — and to all the students, faculty and staff member who have been touched by these tragedies, directly or indirectly,” Qayoumi said in the statement. This comes on the heels of the announcement yesterday that Ricardo Moreno, the
SJSU student shot and killed by police Oct. 10, is the suspected shooter of former students Eric Kenzo Otokawa and Kristina Lynn Pandula who were shot on Oct. 8. These events were the second double homicide related to SJSU in 2011. The first occurred when two business students, Marcory Tarlit Caliguiran and Thomas Kyle Williams were shot and killed on the fifth floor of the 10th Street garage, before the shooter, Napoleon Lavarias Caliguiran, turned the gun on himself. In his email, Qayoumi reassured students that these crimes, “occurred far from our campus and were unconnected to the daily life of our university.”
Identity of shooter revealed by police Staff Writer
Homicides such as these are far from the norm for the SJSU campus and comparable schools, the events of last May being the first shooting deaths in the university’s history. Statewide, violent crime has slowly been decreasing in the last decade. According to statistics from the California department of justice, Santa Clara County followed suit with a decrease from 5,452 in 2008 to 5,013 in 2009. In San Jose, homicides have risen from 20 last year, to 38 just in 2011 alone. “I don’t feel safe, especially at night when I’m walking to my car,” said Nicole Newsom, a sophomore digital media major, of the increased
homicides. “I hope San Jose does better.” Detective Sgt. Manuel Aguayo of University Police Department said despite these events, campus crime is down from this time last year. He said a more direct approach in communication with students through technology such as Alert-SJSU and social networking websites has done much in cutting down crime. Junior communications major Jeff Bowe said the shootings haven’t affected him at all so far. “I don’t know if it ever will, unless it personally affects me,” he said. “I feel safe on this campus, that’s for sure.”
New liquid fuel is solid step in the right direction Aerosppace students seek to maximize efficiencyy with new booster proppulsion technologgy
Ricardo Moreno, a senior psychology major, is believed to be the shooter in the double homicide of former SJSU students Kristina Lynn Pandula and Eric Kenzo Otokawa, San Jose police said Tuesday. Otokawa and Pandula were shot on Oct. 8 on the 800 block of South Third Street near Virginia St. in a home five blocks south of campus, said Lt. Alan Cavallo. Cavallo said he believed Moreno and Otokawa were “friendly with each other” because there did not appear to be any forced entry into the residence. Moreno then shot Otokawa and Pandula in the back of their heads, Cavallo said. Otokawa was pronounced dead on the scene and Pandula died the next day in the hospital. Cavallo said he believed the shooting was related to the selling of narcotics. A senior business finance major who withheld his name, said he was a friend of Otokawa and that Otokawa was selling marijuana. On Oct. 10, police responded to gunshots at 5:33 a.m., called in by residents near the area of Casselino Drive. Cavallo said residents apparently heard Moreno shoot-
ing rounds from a handgun into a parked car near his home. At 6:05 a.m. another resident called SJPD saying a man was walking around the area of Hillsdale Avenue and Narvaez Avenue with a handgun, and officer Jeff Harwell responded to the report, according to a police news release. Cavallo quoted Harwell, saying “He (Moreno) refused to drop his gun,” and aimed it at Harwell who then shot Moreno in self-defense. He was pronounced dead on the scene. After police searched Moreno they found out his gun was not loaded but he had ammunition in his pocket, Cavallo said. Moreno was believed to be under the influence of methamphetamine, marijuana and alcohol, but police are still waiting on the toxicology report, Cavallo said. After police searched Moreno’s room they found his prescription for Abilify, a drug used to treat depression, bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. Cavallo said because both shootings had connections to SJSU, police thought that it was “weird” and they might be connected. Police were able to connect the two incidents when they matched the ballistics from the two shootings, Cavallo said. Moreno’s girlfriend, Maricruz Pajarito, a junior social work major, said Moreno
SEE SHOOTING PAGE 2
INSIDE Editorial Opinion p. 5 Campus community must address estrangement, apathy to move past string of violence
byy Danreb Victorio Staff Writer
A group of students in SJSU’s American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics chapter is working on creating the university’s first liquid rocket motor. Heading this project is Oreste Giusti, a graduate student in aerospace engineering with a concentration in space transportation and exploration. “A rocket is a controlled explosion in a small, little space with one exit,” Giusti explained. “Think of a hose that waters your plants. When turning up the water pressure, the water travels outside the spout faster. When you put your thumb on the spout, the water jets. “So with the rocket, what we’re trying to do is get our reaction to create more action or thrust.” He compared the explosion of oxygen and hydrogen in a rocket to the explosion of water in a hose. Action leads to reaction — the action here is thrust, and the reaction is combustion. Giusti said he and a group of students in the club want to eventually create a flight version of the rocket, making it SJSU’s first physical rocket with a liquid motor. He said he wants a new propulsion class to be taught, which would allow students to test out their ideas in a hands-
SpartanDaily.com
byy Jeremyy Infusino
Crime declining at school, on the rise for city Staff Writer
SPARTAN DAILY
Wednesday October 19, 2011 Volume 137, Issue 29
Perppetrator of Third Street incident found to be enrolled student
Ricardo Moreno
11 a.m. San Jose Police release details linking Moreno to the Third Street shooting.
by Jackson Wright
Serving San José State University since 1934
Compton native drops reggae album A&E p. 3
The chamber liner is one piece of the liquid fuel rocket that SJSU engineering students are preparing to build. Photo courtesy of Oreste Giusti
on environment through various projects similar to the development of the liquid rocket motor. “This could actually be a pretty big step for the university,” said Ramil Seneris, a senior aerospace engineering major. “This is an opportunity that could put us up there with MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology).” The creation of a liquid rocket motor on campus could put more value into an SJSU aerospace engineering degree while also getting more attention to the College of Engineering, Giusti said. “SJSU doesn’t really have much pride in the College of Engineering in terms of showing off its abilities,” he said. “The university hasn’t promoted this project or
any other as well as it can, and the school of engineering pretty much takes the various forms of engineering, whether it’s aerospace or mechanical, and meshes it into one school — meaning budgets are shared and not allocated specifically. Word of mouth just isn’t cutting it here. There aren’t enough of us.” Giusti said he doesn’t think the university has acknowledged the project or understand its significance. Christian Manlutac, a sophomore aerospace engineering major and a member of the club, put the lack of aerospace students into perspective. “There really aren’t that much stu-
SEE ROCKET PAGE 2
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Spartan Daily Serving San José State University since 1934 Volume 137 / Issue 29