Santa Monica College employee dies after being shot by co-worker

A Santa Monica College employee shot earlier this week died Wednesday — a day after an hours-long manhunt for the suspect ended with him dying from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, authorities said.

Felicia Hudson, 54, of Newman, Georgia was shot at the college's Center for Media & Design on Monday evening and died from her injuries at about 5 p.m. Wednesday, according to the Santa Monica Police Department. She was a custodial operations manager at the campus, police said.

Authorities have identified the suspected killer as 39-year-old Davon Durell Dean, who was also an employee at the college.

The shooting happened around 9:50 p.m. Monday at the Center for Media & Design, located at 1660 Stewart Street, in what Santa Monica police have described as a "workplace incident" and not a random act of violence. Law enforcement officials continued searching for the suspect the following day while Hudson remained in critical condition at an area hospital.

Classes were canceled as the manhunt continued Tuesday. That afternoon, officers with the El Segundo Police Department followed a black sedan near Aviation Boulevard and 120th Street in the city, getting into a brief pursuit before a SWAT team pinned the car to the side of the road. 

A standoff followed and ended with Dean fatally shooting himself, police said.

Following his death, police identified Dean as the suspected gunman and said he was previously arrested for attempted murder in 2011 and assault with a deadly weapon in 2019. He was previously convicted of misdemeanor property crimes, police said.

A suspected motive remains under investigation as police have not released further details.