Frederick Davidson

Timeline

• July 19, 1997 — A grand jury trial resulted in sentencing to life in prison; Davidson received three consecutive life terms without parole.
• August 15, 1996 — Frederick Martin Davidson opened fire in a classroom at 2:00 p.m. during a master's thesis defense meeting at San Diego State University (SDSU).
• August 15, 1996 — Davidson slipped into the room at 10:00 a.m. and hid a handgun and five extra cartridges of ammunition in a first aid kit.
• August 25, 2003 — "L3 Memorial Park" was dedicated on the San Diego State University campus near the engineering building.
• Shortly after the shooting — The "Preston Lowrey III memorial scholarship fund" was established at the university.
• May — Davidson pleaded guilty to murder in a deal that spared him the death penalty; the sentence had been agreed upon.

Background

Frederick Martin Davidson was a 36-year-old SDSU mechanical engineering graduate student. He was scheduled to defend his master's thesis in front of his graduate advisor, Assistant Professor Chen Liang, 32, and two other faculty members, Associate Professors Constantinos Lyrintzis, 36, and D. Preston Lowrey III, 44.

Davidson told police he believed that his thesis adviser was bogging him down with work unrelated to his project. Police also investigated statements that Lowrey had seen Davidson with old notes and considered it cheating.

Davidson's thesis had been rejected once already, and he may have believed that the faculty would reject his thesis again. Davidson also had been resentful towards Liang for working long hours in the laboratory with little credit and receiving busy work that had nothing to do with his thesis. Davidson’s lack of employment was also described as a motive, with Davidson feeling Lyrintzis was preventing him from finding work.

Davidson later commented that he was not angry at the students and had no intention of killing them. He had intended to kill himself after the shootings, but could not due to “pure cowardice”. Davidson left a murder suicide note in the hallway for the police to find, detailing the location of evidence and computer files in his house.

Charles Brashear, a retired professor of English who rented a room to Davidson for two years, said he saw nothing that foreshadowed Davidson’s outburst. Brashear said Davidson had snapped at him for prying into his personal business a few months earlier by asking whether he would be graduating. Brashear also reported that Davidson revealed ambivalence toward his faculty advisor, referring to him as a close colleague and friend, but at other times as an “enemy.” Brashear said they had collaborated on research and published two articles together. Brashear described Davidson as “grateful” and “resentful.”

Other details included that Davidson was extremely neat and nervously straightening papers that were out of allignment on his desk. He had a room described as Spartan, with only a framed undergraduate diploma and a nature calendar on the wall. He had few close friends and no romantic attachments. He sometimes went to Las Vegas for gambling and shows. Acquaintances said Davidson’s parents had divorced when he was young.

The offence

The San Diego State University shooting occurred at a SDSU engineering building on August 15, 1996 in San Diego, California, United States. Davidson opened fire in a classroom during a master's thesis defense meeting with a panel of professors.

Davidson made advance plans for the shooting by slipping into the room at 10:00 a.m., hiding a handgun and five extra cartridges of ammunition in a first aid kit. Each cartridge contained 15 rounds of ammunition. When Davidson returned to the room about 2 p.m., the three professors were seated at a table and three student monitors were standing behind them.

Chen Liang, formally introduced Davidson, stated the purpose of the meeting, and sat back down. Davidson handed Liang a printout of an e-mail from a prospective employer interested in hiring Davidson. The printout stated that his future employment with the company hinged on a successful Master’s thesis defense. Without time for comment from Liang, and without saying anything himself, Davidson turned to the first aid box on the wall, removed the 9mm semiautomatic handgun, and immediately started firing, hitting Liang first and killing him while still seated at the faculty table.

Lowrey and Lyrintzis were also hit. Lowrey tried to escape out the only main access door to the room. Davidson was between the main door and the faculty table and shot Lowrey several times; Lowrey died on the floor in the main doorway.

Lyrintzis fled away from the main door and Davidson into an adjoining classroom and hid under a table. After killing Lowrey, Davidson reloaded another clip into the handgun, pursued Lyrintzis into the other room, and shot and killed Lyrintzis while still under the desk.

Overall, Davidson fired 23 rounds, with 16 rounds hitting the professors.

The three students attending the thesis defense were not shot and escaped without injury. One student made it out the main doorway and notified the 3rd floor students and faculty to evacuate.

During the shooting, Davidson ignored the students and fired 23 rounds during what was described as a four-minute frenzy.

Davidson was later found in the 3rd floor hallway still holding the handgun and soon surrendered to police without further incident.

Investigation

San Diego Police investigations determined that Davidson made advance plans for the shooting by slipping into the room where he was to defend his thesis at 10:00 a.m. and hiding a handgun and five extra cartridges of ammunition in a first aid kit. Investigators determined that Davidson slipped into the room about 10 a.m. and hid the gun and ammunition.

Police described Davidson as methodically killing three professors by chasing two of them down.

Arrest

Campus police found Davidson pacing back and forth in the hall holding a gun to his side. Twice he told officers to shoot him, dropped his gun, and was led away sobbing. He soon surrendered to police without further incident.

Trial

Davidson was convicted on July 19, 1997 at a grand jury trial.

Davidson’s sentencing had been agreed upon in May when he pleaded guilty to murder in a deal that spared him the death penalty.

At trial, Davidson had been described as a former San Diego State University graduate student. He had opened fire in a classroom on Aug. 15 while meeting with a panel of professors and was arrested in the hall moments later.

Sentencing

On July 19, 1997, Davidson was sentenced to life in prison with three consecutive life terms without parole.

Outcome

The three professors killed were:

• Chen Liang, Ph.D. (32), Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering
• D. Preston Lowery III, Ph.D. (44), Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering
• Constantinos Lyrintzis, Ph.D. (36), Associate Professor of Aerospace Engineering and Engineering Mechanics

Aftermath

“L3 Memorial Park”, dedicated on August 25, 2003, was located on the San Diego State University campus near the engineering building as a memorial to the slain professors.

The “Preston Lowrey III memorial scholarship fund” was established at the university shortly after the shooting.

Other details

Frederick Davidson told police he believed that his thesis adviser was bogging him down with work unrelated to his project. He also told police he believed that his employment prospects hinged on a successful Master’s thesis defense.

Davidson’s comments included that he was extremely neat, nervously straightening papers that were out of allignment on his desk and had a room described as Spartan with only a framed undergraduate diploma and a nature calendar on the wall.

Davidson sometimes went to Las Vegas for gambling and shows. Acquaintances said his parents had divorced when he was young.

Frederick Martin Davidson was 37 in one account and 36 in other descriptions.