It was the deadliest act of mass murder in Orange County until the 2011 Seal Beach shooting, in which eight people died.
Armed with a .22 caliber semi-automatic rifle[5] he purchased at a Kmart in Buena Park, Allaway killed seven people and injured two others in the library's first-floor lobby and at the building's Instructional Media Center (IMC), located in the basement.
After shooting Seth Fessenden and Paul Herzberg, he took a service elevator down to the first floor and shot Frank Teplansky and left a visiting high school student unharmed.
However, instead of firing at the two individuals Allaway lowered the gun and ran in the opposite direction, and soon after the two could hear more gunfire.
"[7] The deceased victims were Paul Herzberg, 30, Bruce Jacobson, 32, Donald Karges, 41, Deborah Paulsen, 25, Seth Fessenden, 72, Frank Teplansky, 51 and Stephen Becker, 32.
[9] He presented a history of mental illness, as he had tried to commit suicide and had been hospitalized and treated with electroconvulsive therapy in the past.
Allaway remained institutionalized at Patton State Hospital for a number of years.
[4] In the summer of 2009, officials at Patton indicated that Allaway was asymptomatic, had not needed medication, and they would recommend his release.
The district attorney contacted the governor and the state mental health director to protest the hospital's planned action, given his history of violence and the mass murder.
[12][13] In July 2016, survivors and family of the deceased victims commemorated the fortieth anniversary of the attack with a candlelight vigil.