DAVIS, Calif. — UC Davis Chancellor Gary May announced that classes and labs that take place after 6 p.m. will be virtual due to safety concerns voiced by students.
Students who spoke with ABC10 Tuesday said campus is empty in comparison to a normal day because many were not wanting to walk or bike to class.
UC Davis Police Chief Joe Farrow said the campus police department is the secondary department for response after the City of Davis Police Department.
“People are genuinely concerned. They are scared and trying to figure out what’s happening in the city of Davis,” said Farrow.
Students and staff at UC Davis are on edge as police continue to search for a man that stabbed and killed Karim Abou Najm, a university student, Saturday evening. While it didn’t happen on campus, many student must walk or bike through the area if they live off campus.
“We are providing them all day transportation to and from campus. The Safe Rides program, those vans are running 16 hours a day hundreds if not thousands of students transported,” said Farrow.
The program transports the students in nine cars that can each seat eight people.
The Associated Students of UC Davis sent a letter to the administration urging them to provide online classes for all courses until a suspect is caught.
Senior Eric Murray says one of his classes has already been moved online. He says his new personal rule is not to be out after 10 p.m.
“Generally during the day, I still feel safe with a lot of people around, but going out at night is no longer an option,” said Murray.
For fourth year student Brianna Kemble, she would normally be walking to class with her headphones on and music playing but not today. She says she needs to do her part to stay safe and be aware of her surroundings.
“I’m looking over my shoulder a little more, which I’m not sure if that’s necessarily something my male counterparts are doing,” said Kemble.
Students are on alert and concerned families are calling to check on their students.
“My mom called me on my way to class this morning. My sisters have been checking in, even my cousins,” said Kemble
But for international students, news of the killings haven’t made it home yet.
The university said as of Tuesday they sent out a notice to all parents.
UC Davis has around 6,000 international students. Zitong, who is from China, says she hasn’t told her family yet because she doesn’t want them to worry.
“I’m planning to go back to China this summer to see my family, so I think I’m looking forward to it. And since there is that hope, I’m good at this moment,” said Zitong.
The campus and police are asking everyone to download the Warn Me app to get real time updates.
“Do we have walls to prevent them from coming up here on campus? No. And we know we have students traumatized by that, and... we are trying to do everything we can knowing we have young adults coming on campus experiencing a tragedy like this for the first time in their life,” said Farrow.
According to the Associated Students, this is the third event in the spring quarter that has resulted in a death of a student.
“In a survey on the current Pass/No Pass deadline, 55.6% of students reported mental health as an extenuating circumstance they faced beyond school,” Associated Students said in their letter.
Resources are being made available.
Police presence will be tripled on campus. That’s 12 officers. On a typical night, they run 4. All 6 of the specialty trained officers will work and officers from UC Berkeley and San Francisco are at the campus to assist. Private security has also been hired to patrol where students walk home.
UC Davis is just 6 weeks away from the end of school, and they are discussing potential accommodations for finals.
They also announced a vigil on Friday at 4:30 p.m. for Kamir Abou Najm. He was posthumously awarded his degree and a memorial scholarship for undergraduate research has been set up in his honor.
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