Santa Monica College shooter found dead after standoff with Hawthorne police

The suspect wanted in connection with a shooting at Santa Monica College on Monday night has died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound after a brief police pursuit in Hawthorne, according to the Santa Monica Police Department (SMPD).

Investigators had been tracking the suspect since the incident on Monday night. According to Lt. Erika Aklufi of SMPD, the suspect’s vehicle was struck by the Hawthorne Police Department and attempted to stop it, after which a short pursuit began around 3 p.m. Tuesday afternoon. Not long after, pursuit technology was used to bring the suspect’s black sedan to a stop on Aviation Boulevard just north of El Segundo Boulevard near LAX.

The driver refused to cooperate or exit the vehicle, and despite the efforts of the Hawthorne Police Crisis Negotiation Team, the suspect was found dead in his vehicle from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. The Los Angeles County Coroner will respond.

Investigators identified Davon Durell Dean (DOB August 1, 1985), an SMC employee, as the suspected shooter. Durell has a history of arrests, including attempted murder in 2011 and assault with a deadly weapon, a firearm, in 2019. However, his only convictions were for negligent property crimes.

The incident began at Santa Monica College (SMC) when a long-time employee was critically injured in a workplace violence incident Monday evening. The campus was closed on Tuesday after a Center for Media & Design (CMD) employee was shot late Monday evening.

The victim, who was shot around 9:50 p.m., was taken to a local hospital in critical condition. The CMD facility at 1660 Stewart Street is one of SMC’s satellite locations and is also home to radio station KCRW.

“This was a workplace violence incident, not a random act,” the university said in a statement. “The college is cooperating fully with authorities and all Santa Monica College campuses will be closed on Tuesday to prioritize the safety and well-being of our community.”

SMC Superintendent Kathryn E. Jeffery expressed her sadness in a statement, noting that the victim was a long-time employee. She called on the campus community to come together to support the victim’s family.

“Here at SMC, we often refer to each other as family. At this heartbreaking time, I urge all of us to come together in kindness and compassion as we navigate this unspeakable tragedy,” she said.

Early Tuesday morning, Santa Monica and Malibu Unified School District Superintendent Dr. Antonio Shelton, issued a statement saying, “The shooting is believed to have occurred between two individuals who know each other…SMPD will be conducting additional patrols around our campus today.” All SMC locations will remain closed today. The safety and well-being of our students and staff is our top priority.”

A student, who asked to be identified only as John, was sitting at a desk in the hallway one floor up in the bullpen, not far from where the incident occurred.

“I was on the second level and was in the hallway study working on my computer on a table and just before 10 p.m. I heard a very loud noise and to me it didn’t sound like a gunshot, but more like like a bag that burst, or maybe if something fell, like a very loud noise,” John said Daily press.

“Within maybe another second or two I hear one of those big noises again, but [because] I was on the second floor and the concept is similar to a large open space…the sound is reflected and can reverberate through the hallways. Again, I didn’t think much about it, but right after that I heard screaming from one or two female voices.”

John says he was alone in the upstairs hallway, but later found out there was also a professor in his office on the same floor. Less than 30 seconds later after hearing the screams, he said he heard someone call 911 on their phone, at which point he realized the full seriousness of the situation and that there was an active shooter in the building.

“I hear her calling 911 and she’s scared, like she’s in fear for her life, and so I immediately understand, okay, there’s a shooter in the building… and I didn’t know where to go because I worried about my own life. So I thought maybe I should go into a bathroom or somewhere, some kind of closet where I can hide, but at the same time because of the design of the building there are only three ways to get down,” he says.

Before he could decide what to do next, a college administrator ran down the upstairs hallway and told John to vacate the building immediately, leave everything behind and go to the parking lot.

“I run to the parking lot again and I’m very scared because I thought maybe the shooter could be on the second level, he could shoot us like a sniper… I go to my car and I have all my things upstairs, my wallet, even mine Shoes, I walked in my socks. I left my laptop upstairs, my money, everything.”

Once we were outside, John said, college police were on the scene within minutes, and then SMPD arrived a few minutes later.

“At the very beginning there were maybe three cars, and then within four minutes I counted seven police cars, and a minute later I counted twelve in total. There was also an ambulance, a fire truck and a helicopter circling overhead, a big spotlight… And then all these police officers run out of their cars with really, really big guns, I want to say three or three and a half foot long guns, and they enter the building all through a single entrance,” says John.

He says that while the ordeal was harrowing and the temperature was a bit chilly, he and others in the building were well cared for. He gave his statement to police and was provided coffee and donuts by the college, but was required to remain at the scene until about 1:30 a.m.

The SMC remains cordoned off and closed and a statement from SMPD on Monday morning said: “We will be conducting additional patrols around our schools to strengthen our connection with our students and their parents.”

This ongoing story is continually updated Daily press website as soon as new information is published.

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