Santa Clara Man Who Stabbed 4 At UC-Merced May Have "Self-Radicalized"

SANTA CLARA - A Santa Clara man who stabbed four people at the University of California at Merced in November may have "self-radicalized" himself and drawn inspiration from terrorist propaganda, FBI officials said Thursday.

Faisal Mohammad, 18, was a student at UC Merced where he stabbed four people in a classroom building before he was fatally shot by a campus police officer on the morning of Nov. 4, FBI officials said.

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The federal agency's Fresno Area Joint Terrorism Task Force responded to the scene and opened an investigation that included interviews and inspection of Mohammad's electronics, according to the FBI.

The 18-year-old's laptop had propaganda that supported the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, commonly known as ISIL, FBI officials said.

In the weeks leading up to Nov. 4 attack, Mohammad visited websites of ISIL and other extremist groups, according to FBI.

The investigation also indicated he started getting ready for the attack a week before on his own, FBI officials said. Mohammad wore a backpack during the attack that carried a two-page handwritten manifesto on his plans to take in hostages and kill students and police officers, according to the FBI.

The backpack also contained a copy of an ISIL flag, FBI officials said. Handcuffs, zip ties, two clear bags of petroleum jelly, a safety hammer and duct tape were also found in the bag, according to Merced County sheriff's officials.

There were no signs that Mohammad had any co-conspirators or links with foreign terrorist organizations, but investigators noted they might never learn why he attacked people on the campus, according to the FBI.

The victims were two students, a staff member and a contractor who were all treated for their injuries, UC Merced officials said.

"We are relieved to finally have resolution to this very tragic event on the UC Merced campus. This concludes the investigation, which was a cooperative effort that could not have been as successful without the assistance of the Federal Bureau of Investigation," UC Merced Chancellor Dorothy Leland said in a statement Thursday.

"I am proud of the way our campus community came together in the aftermath of this incident, and the kindness displayed by so many only reinforced what I already knew to be true about UC Merced. Now, we move to the task of further healing and taking care of the needs of our students, staff and faculty," Leland said.

-By Bay City News Service, image via ShutterStock