Woman dies 2 days after co-worker shot her at Santa Monica College, police say

SANTA MONICA, Calif. (AP) — A 54-year-old woman died Wednesday from injuries sustained earlier in the week when her co-worker shot her at California’s Santa Monica College, authorities said.

Felicia Hudson was pronounced dead Wednesday evening following the shooting late Monday at the school’s Center for Media and Design, officials said.

Hudson was a custodial operations manager at the college and the suspected gunman, 39-year-old Davon Durell Dean, had been a custodian. Officials called the shooting a “workplace violence incident.”

“We are deeply saddened and shocked by the tragic loss of our colleague Felicia Hudson, who served the college for nearly three decades with dedication and heart. She took great pride in being a steadfast coworker and leader,” Kathryn E. Jeffery, the college’s superintendent and president, said in a statement.

Dean fled after the shooting, Santa Monica police said in a statement. His car was stopped by officers near the city of Hawthorne, south of Santa Monica. After failing to surrender, he was found dead by suicide inside the car, police said.

“The investigation remains ongoing, and detectives are working to determine the full sequence of events leading to this tragedy,” the statement said. “There are no known additional suspects involved and there is no ongoing threat to the public.”

In 2011, Dean was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder, and in 2019, he was arrested for alleged assault with a deadly weapon. However, his only convictions were for misdemeanor property crimes, police said.

The community college, with about 30,000 students across satellite campuses in the beachside city, was open again Wednesday after being closed Tuesday during the investigation.