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Santa Monica College Reopens After Deadly Rampage

Santa MonicaSANTA MONICA, Calif. — Santa Monica College reopened under extra security Monday, except for the library, where police shot and killed a heavily armed gunman after a rampage that left five people dead.

Students who fled Friday would be able to resume final examinations and retrieve backpacks, cars and other belongings, according to the college website.

Counselors were on hand, and a candlelight vigil was planned for Monday evening in front of the library.

Investigators, meanwhile, were trying to determine why John Zawahri, 23, killed his father and older brother in a home near campus Friday, leaving the house in flames. He fired at a car, wounding the driver, took another motorist hostage and forced her to drive as he shot at people and a bus in the neighborhood. He shot a woman in the head on campus and was shot and killed by police in the college library after gunning down a total of five people in less than 15 minutes.

Debra Fine was wounded when Zawahri opened fire on her car. She said the attacker had spiky hair, wore Black clothing and a ballistics vest and had a cold, intense stare.

There was “no hesitation, no flick of a muscle, nothing. Just absolutely staring and going onto the next step,” Fine recalled. “I just simply got in his way. And he needed to kill me. That was it.”

She recognized the eyes in a 2006 high school yearbook photo of Zawahri shown to her by The Associated Press.

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