Domestic Dispute Led To SJSU Shootings That Left 3 Dead
SAN JOSE (KCBS / AP) -- The fatal shootings earlier this week of three people in a San Jose State University parking garage appeared to have been the result of a domestic dispute, university officials and police said Thursday.
The husband of a graduating business student shot and killed her and a male classmate in a car in the 10th Street garage Tuesday night and then turned the gun on himself, campus police chief Peter Decena said. He indicated that a small handgun used in the slayings was recovered at the crime scene.
The gunman was identified by authorities as 54-year-old Napoleon Lavarias Caliguiran. The victims were identified as 25-year-old Marcory Tarlit Caliguiran and 26-year-old Thomas Kyle Williams.
KCBS' Mike Colgan Reports:
The two victims were graduating seniors with honors in accounting, school spokeswoman Pat Lopes-Harris said.
The university waited to release the names so that authorities could contact the Caliguirans next of kin in the Phillippines.
KCBS' Mike Colgan Reports:
Police had yet to determine a specific motive for the attack, but Decena said it was being investigated as a domestic violence incident that ended as a murder-suicide.
Napoleon Caliguiran had no known criminal record, according to police, and there was no record of previous domestic violence involving the couple.
"We don't know a lot, and we may never know a lot about the series of events that led up to what happened in our parking garage on Tuesday night," Lopes-Harris said of the campus shootings, the first case of its kind in the 150-year history of the nearly 30,000-student commuter campus.
Williams, known to his friends as "Kyle," was recently recognized during an on-campus ceremony for making the President's List with a 4.0 average, said his father, Thomas Williams.
The elder Williams said his son had been married for three years and was scheduled to start a job with PricewaterhouseCoopers in San Jose in the fall.
"He was a terrific son with a lot of drive, smarts and ambition," Williams said. "He was at the top of his class with a bright future ahead of him. This is a big blow to our entire family."
Thursday's release of the victims' names hit student body president Tomaz Kolodziejak especially hard. He took classes with Marcory Caliguiran, whom he knew as "Cindy" and recently worked with her on a 40-page senior project.
Kolodziejak said he spoke with the honors student frequently and thought something was wrong when the usually reliable Caliguiran didn't show up for class Wednesday.
"We started calling, texting, emailing her," he said. "She didn't respond. So the whole day was sort of terrifying. We thought it could be her, but nobody wanted to believe that. We thought maybe she was sick."
Despite their frequent contact, Kolodziejak didn't know that Caliguiran was married. He said classmates often walked her to her car to ensure her safety and believes that's what Williams was doing when they were killed.
"It's just so hard to believe," Kolodziejak said, fighting back tears. "She was a really passionate, hard-working person. Just the sweetest."
Students had waited anxiously for more than a day to learn the names of the victims and whether they were campus students. A collective gasp could be heard when the university released the information at a news conference.
"There is a great feeling of sadness," Harris said.
Students preparing for final exams next week will be offered counseling to cope with the tragedy. The victims, who also were members of Beta Alpha Psi student business organization, will likely receive posthumous diplomas and be honored during an on-campus memorial for the victims.
The San Jose Police Department was assisting campus police with the investigation.
Anyone with information on the shootings was asked by university officials to call the San Jose State University Police Department at (408) 924-2168.
(Copyright 2011 by CBS San Francisco. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Wire services contributed to this report.)
