Reports state that violent crime is on the rise in United States,
increasing 18 percent just last year after the crime rate was thought to have begun to decline 20 years ago.
In 2012, the nation has seen a string of deadly rampages like no year before. As yesterday's shooting spree at an elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut marked one the of most deadly school shootings in American history, it added onto a long list of violent crimes that erupted throughout the year.
AprilOne of the first tragedies of the year involved a former Oikos University student who had dropped out of school months prior, and ended up killing seven of his classmates at point-blank range.
One Goh
The gunman, One L. Goh, 43, had been a nursing student at the Christian university in Oakland, and is believed to have returned to the school to kill an administrator. However, when the staff member did not show up at work that day, Goh took his frustrations out on others.
He is stated to have shoved a secretary at the university into a classroom, where Goh ordered the students gathered to line up against the wall. When some refused to do so, he opened fire.
Five students died at the scene, and two others passed away at the hospital. Three were wounded in the incident.
chaotic, calculated and determined gentleman that came there with a very specific intent to kill people, and that's what his motive was and that's what he carried out," said Oakland Police Chief Howard Jordan.
Goh left the building following the incident, and as police arrived at the scene, they found students in an extremely emotional state.
"Officers found several victims throughout the classroom - throughout the building," Jordan explained. "There were several people hiding in locked buildings, locked doors, behind desks. As you can imagine, very frightened. Very scared. Some of them were injured, so we had to rescue them out."
An hour after the incident, Goh walked into a grocery store, where to told a clerk, "I just shot some people." Police then arrested Goh, who was later charged with seven counts of murder and three counts of attempted murder.
Reports state that Goh had also been dealing with tax problems and had lost two loved ones over the past year.