{
  "id": "2025-05-02-spartan-college-aeronautics-technology-inglewood-shooting",
  "slug": "spartan-college-aeronautics-technology-inglewood-shooting-2025-05-02",
  "institution": {
    "name": "Spartan College of Aeronautics and Technology",
    "shortName": "Spartan College",
    "state": "CA",
    "type": "for-profit",
    "enrollment": 1200
  },
  "incident": {
    "date": "2025-05-02",
    "type": "workplace-violence",
    "cleryCategory": "emergency-notification",
    "headline": "A Security Guard, Two Months on the Job, Shoots the Dean Who Employed Him",
    "summary": "A newly hired, unarmed security guard shot and killed [Dean Dr. Cameisha Clark and wounded her assistant](https://abc7.com/post/dr-cameisha-clark-death-family-friends-mourn-spartan-college-aeronautics-technology-dean-killed-workplace-shooting/16443724/) inside an administrative office at the Inglewood campus of Spartan College of Aeronautics and Technology on the afternoon of May 2, 2025. The [Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office](https://da.lacounty.gov/media/news/security-guard-charged-murder-spartan-college-dean) charged the suspect, Jesse Figueroa, with murder and attempted murder after he was located and arrested roughly two miles from campus.",
    "outcome": "Dr. Cameisha Clark, 35, died of her injuries at a hospital; her assistant survived and was hospitalized in stable condition. Suspect Jesse Figueroa, 40, a security guard employed by the college for about two months, was arrested nearby and charged with one count of murder, one count of attempted murder, and two firearm-possession felony counts tied to a prior violent conviction.",
    "casualties": {
      "killed": 1,
      "injured": 1
    },
    "resolution": "confirmed-threat"
  },
  "alerts": [
    {
      "sequence": 1,
      "type": "initial",
      "timestampApprox": "Friday afternoon, shortly after the shooting was reported to Inglewood Police on May 2, 2025",
      "channel": "unknown",
      "verbatimText": "Campus lockdown in effect: an active shooting has been reported on the Spartan College Inglewood campus. Shelter in place and await further instructions.",
      "isVerbatimConfirmed": false,
      "sourceDescription": "Reconstructed from local news coverage of the campus lockdown; exact alert wording was not published",
      "annotations": [
        "News coverage confirms a lockdown was placed on the Inglewood campus immediately after officers responded, but no outlet published the literal alert text sent to students and staff",
        "Reconstructed based on the Los Angeles Times, NBC Los Angeles, and CBS Los Angeles accounts of the lockdown being enacted and later lifted",
        "Spartan College is a small, single-purpose aviation maintenance trade school without a named, branded mass-notification system documented in public reporting"
      ],
      "characterCount": 153
    },
    {
      "sequence": 2,
      "type": "all-clear",
      "timestampApprox": "Friday evening, after Inglewood Police located and arrested Jesse Figueroa on May 2, 2025",
      "channel": "unknown",
      "verbatimText": "The lockdown at Spartan College has been lifted. The suspect has been taken into custody and there is no further threat to the campus community.",
      "isVerbatimConfirmed": false,
      "sourceDescription": "Reconstructed from CBS Los Angeles and NBC Los Angeles reporting that the lockdown was lifted after the suspect's arrest",
      "annotations": [
        "CBS Los Angeles reported the lockdown was lifted once Inglewood Police confirmed the suspect had fled the scene and was later apprehended",
        "The arrest occurred after officers spotted Figueroa's vehicle several blocks from campus, on the 1100 block of Berendo Street",
        "No outlet reproduced the literal notification text; this message is reconstructed to reflect the substance of what was communicated"
      ],
      "characterCount": 144
    }
  ],
  "context": "Spartan College of Aeronautics and Technology is a for-profit aviation maintenance technology school with an Inglewood, California campus near LAX. On the afternoon of May 2, 2025, [a gunman opened fire inside an administrative office](https://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local/spartan-college-shooting-dean-victims/3694984/), striking Dean Dr. Cameisha Clark and her assistant. Clark, who had recently been promoted to dean, died from her injuries; her assistant survived. Investigators identified the shooter as Jesse Figueroa, a 40-year-old unarmed security guard who had worked at the campus for only about two months. According to the [Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office](https://da.lacounty.gov/media/news/security-guard-charged-murder-spartan-college-dean), Figueroa was a convicted felon prohibited from possessing a firearm and was charged with murder, attempted murder, and two counts of unlawful firearm possession. News accounts describing the shooting as workplace violence reported that [Figueroa had a disagreement with Clark over a decision she had made](https://mynewsla.com/crime/2025/05/06/security-guard-charged-in-double-shooting-at-inglewood-aviation-school-2/). Officers placed the campus on lockdown immediately after the shooting; Figueroa fled before police arrived and was located and arrested later that day several blocks away. Clark's family later filed a wrongful-death lawsuit against the college, alleging inadequate screening of the security contractor's employees.",
  "keyFindings": [
    "The suspect was an employee (a contracted security guard) rather than a student or outsider, and the attack targeted his own workplace supervisor",
    "Figueroa had only been employed at the campus for approximately two months and had a disqualifying prior violent felony conviction that should have barred him from carrying out even unarmed security duties in some jurisdictions",
    "No official, branded emergency-alert system name for this small for-profit trade school appears in public reporting, unlike the large public universities that dominate this archive",
    "The gunman fled the scene before police arrived, meaning the lockdown persisted for an unspecified period without a confirmed location for the threat"
  ],
  "sources": [
    {
      "title": "Dr. Cameisha Clark death: Family and friends mourn Spartan College of Aeronautics and Technology dean killed in workplace shooting (ABC7 Los Angeles)",
      "url": "https://abc7.com/post/dr-cameisha-clark-death-family-friends-mourn-spartan-college-aeronautics-technology-dean-killed-workplace-shooting/16443724/",
      "type": "local-media"
    },
    {
      "title": "Security Guard Charged With Murder of Spartan College Dean (Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office)",
      "url": "https://da.lacounty.gov/media/news/security-guard-charged-murder-spartan-college-dean",
      "type": "other"
    },
    {
      "title": "Family identifies beloved Spartan College dean killed in shooting on Inglewood campus (NBC Los Angeles)",
      "url": "https://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local/spartan-college-shooting-dean-victims/3694984/",
      "type": "local-media"
    },
    {
      "title": "2 people wounded in shooting at Spartan College in Inglewood; suspect in custody (CBS Los Angeles)",
      "url": "https://www.cbsnews.com/losangeles/news/spartan-college-campus-shooting-inglewood-gunman-arrested/",
      "type": "local-media"
    },
    {
      "title": "Inglewood Aviation School Security Guard Charged for Double-Murder (MyNewsLA)",
      "url": "https://mynewsla.com/crime/2025/05/06/security-guard-charged-in-double-shooting-at-inglewood-aviation-school-2/",
      "type": "local-media"
    }
  ],
  "confidence": "medium",
  "tags": [
    "workplace-violence",
    "for-profit",
    "trade-school",
    "aviation",
    "employee-on-employee",
    "fatality",
    "california",
    "lockdown",
    "suspect-arrested",
    "2025"
  ],
  "dateAdded": "2026-07-03",
  "lastUpdated": "2026-07-03",
  "addedBy": "ingestion"
}