{
  "id": "2024-10-14-santa-monica-college-shooting",
  "slug": "santa-monica-college-shooting-2024-10-14",
  "institution": {
    "name": "Santa Monica College",
    "shortName": "SMC",
    "state": "CA",
    "type": "community-college",
    "alertSystemName": "SMC Alert",
    "enrollment": 30000
  },
  "incident": {
    "date": "2024-10-14",
    "endDate": "2024-10-15",
    "type": "shooting",
    "cleryCategory": "emergency-notification",
    "resolution": "confirmed-threat",
    "headline": "Shooting, October 14, 2024",
    "summary": "On October 14, 2024, an SMC employee [shot a coworker at the Center for Media and Design](https://www.smc.edu/news/announcements/2024-10-14-shooting-at-the-cmd.php) satellite campus on Stewart Street at approximately 9:50 PM PDT. The victim, Custodial Operations Manager Felicia Hudson, 54, [died from her injuries](https://www.smc.edu/news/2024/2024-10-16-smc-employee-has-died-from-shooting-injuries.php) on October 16. The suspect, Davon Durell Dean, was found dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound the following day.",
    "outcome": "Felicia Hudson, 54, died at a local hospital on October 16 from her injuries. The suspect, Davon Durell Dean, an SMC employee, fled the scene and was located by Hawthorne Police on October 15 at approximately 3:00 PM PDT, deceased from a self-inflicted gunshot wound inside his vehicle. All SMC campuses were closed on October 15.",
    "casualties": {
      "killed": 1,
      "injured": 0
    }
  },
  "alerts": [
    {
      "sequence": 1,
      "type": "initial",
      "timestampApprox": "Shortly after 9:50 PM PDT on October 14, 2024",
      "channel": "push-notification",
      "verbatimText": "",
      "isVerbatimConfirmed": false,
      "sourceDescription": "Santa Monica College official announcements",
      "annotations": []
    },
    {
      "sequence": 2,
      "type": "update",
      "timestampApprox": "Morning of October 15, 2024 PDT",
      "channel": "email",
      "verbatimText": "",
      "isVerbatimConfirmed": false,
      "sourceDescription": "SMC website notice — press-release style \"Santa Monica, CA—\" lead; not confirmed as campus alert per GROK evidence bar",
      "annotations": []
    },
    {
      "sequence": 3,
      "type": "follow-up",
      "timestampApprox": "Afternoon of October 15, 2024 PDT",
      "channel": "email",
      "verbatimText": "Dear SMC Community:\n\nThe Santa Monica Police Department (SMPD) has released information this evening confirming that the suspect behind the horrific Oct. 14 workplace shooting at the Santa Monica College Center for Media and Design was apprehended today at approximately 3:00 p.m. near El Segundo Blvd. and Aviation Blvd. (Read the press release). Law enforcement used a pursuit intervention technique to stop the suspect's vehicle; he was found deceased inside his vehicle from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.\n\nThe victim, an SMC colleague, remains in critical condition at a local hospital, as of the time of this update. Our hearts are with the victim’s family, friends, and loved ones.\n\nAfter a swift investigation, SMPD Detectives identified SMC employee Davon Durell Dean as the suspected shooter.\n\nThe Santa Monica Police Department has disclosed that Dean had prior arrests for crimes of violence which did not result in conviction. The college requires that all prospective employees disclose previous criminal convictions and all employees are fingerprinted. By law, the college is only able to consider convictions in our hiring decisions and are unaware of an applicant’s arrest history. The suspect disclosed his convictions and they were property crimes and not crimes of violence; the disclosed convictions matched Department of Justice records. The arrests revealed by the Santa Monica Police Department did not result in convictions and were unknown to the SMC Human Resources Department.\n\nThe investigation remains ongoing, and detectives are working to determine the range of events that led to this tragedy. There are no known additional suspects involved, and there is no ongoing threat to the public.\n\nThe college will be conducting an in-depth analysis of this incident and has made grief/crisis counseling services available to students and employees. Classes, support services, and business operations have pivoted to an online environment and will remain remote through Sunday, Oct. 20, 2024. Please continue to monitor your SMC email for the latest updates as well as the college’s official X account @SMC_edu and the online newsroom: smc.edu/announcements.\n\nIn the days ahead, we will need to come together to reckon with this tragedy and find a path to healing, together.\n\nKathryn E. Jeffery, Ph.D.\nSuperintendent/President",
      "isVerbatimConfirmed": true,
      "sourceUrl": "https://www.smc.edu/news/announcements/2024-10-15-smpd-releases-info-on-shooting-suspect.php",
      "sourceDescription": "SMC Superintendent/President community message — suspect identification and remote operations (Oct 15, 2024)",
      "annotations": [
        "Verbatim recovery from official source https://www.smc.edu/news/announcements/2024-10-15-smpd-releases-info-on-shooting-suspect.php on 2026-07-18.",
        "Dean was found deceased inside his vehicle from a self-inflicted gunshot wound",
        "Dean had prior arrests including attempt murder in 2011, though his only convictions were for misdemeanor property crimes"
      ],
      "characterCount": 2352
    }
  ],
  "context": "On the evening of October 14, 2024, an SMC employee opened fire at the [Center for Media and Design](https://www.smc.edu/news/announcements/2024-10-14-shooting-at-the-cmd.php), a satellite campus at 1660 Stewart Street in Santa Monica, at approximately 9:50 PM PDT. The victim, Custodial Operations Manager Felicia Hudson, 54, was critically injured and later [died from her injuries on October 16](https://www.smc.edu/news/2024/2024-10-16-smc-employee-has-died-from-shooting-injuries.php). The suspect, identified as Davon Durell Dean, another SMC employee, fled the scene. All Santa Monica College campuses were [closed on October 15](https://www.smc.edu/news/announcements/2024-10-15-cmd-shooting-update.php) while the suspect remained at large. That afternoon, Hawthorne Police located Dean's vehicle near El Segundo Boulevard and used a pursuit intervention technique to stop it. Dean was found deceased inside from a [self-inflicted gunshot wound](https://abcnews.go.com/US/santa-monica-college-california-shooting-employee-injured/story?id=114816599). The SMC president described the incident as a workplace violence event, not a random act. Dean had a history of prior arrests, including for attempted murder in 2011, though his only convictions were for misdemeanor property crimes. The incident was the [second deadly shooting in Santa Monica College's history](https://www.smc.edu/news/announcements/2024-10-21-october-14-workplace-shooting-summary-recap.php), following a mass shooting on campus in 2013.",
  "keyFindings": [
    "The shooting was a workplace violence incident between employees, not a random attack on students",
    "The suspect fled the scene and was found dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound the following day, leaving campus on alert overnight",
    "All SMC campuses were closed for a full day while the suspect remained at large, a significant operational disruption for a community college serving 30,000 students"
  ],
  "sources": [
    {
      "title": "Shooting at the Center for Media & Design (Santa Monica College)",
      "url": "https://www.smc.edu/news/announcements/2024-10-14-shooting-at-the-cmd.php",
      "type": "official-archive"
    },
    {
      "title": "CMD Campus Shooting: Update (Santa Monica College)",
      "url": "https://www.smc.edu/news/announcements/2024-10-15-cmd-shooting-update.php",
      "type": "official-archive"
    },
    {
      "title": "Santa Monica College Employee Has Died From Shooting Injuries (Santa Monica College)",
      "url": "https://www.smc.edu/news/2024/2024-10-16-smc-employee-has-died-from-shooting-injuries.php",
      "type": "official-archive"
    },
    {
      "title": "Santa Monica College employee dies following shooting by colleague (NBC Los Angeles)",
      "url": "https://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local/santa-monica-college-employee-dies-following-shooting-by-colleague/3537843/",
      "type": "local-media"
    },
    {
      "title": "Santa Monica College employee dies 2 days after workplace shooting (ABC News)",
      "url": "https://abcnews.go.com/US/santa-monica-college-california-shooting-employee-injured/story?id=114816599",
      "type": "local-media"
    },
    {
      "title": "SMC Superintendent/President community message — suspect identification and remote operations (Oct 15, 2024)",
      "url": "https://www.smc.edu/news/announcements/2024-10-15-smpd-releases-info-on-shooting-suspect.php",
      "type": "official-archive"
    }
  ],
  "confidence": "high",
  "tags": [
    "shooting",
    "workplace-violence",
    "community-college",
    "fatality",
    "california",
    "suspect-deceased",
    "campus-closure",
    "santa-monica"
  ],
  "dateAdded": "2026-04-04",
  "lastUpdated": "2026-07-18",
  "addedBy": "ingestion"
}