Its catalyst was a domestic dispute and subsequent fire at a home, followed by a series of shootings near and on the Santa Monica College campus.

Upon arriving on the college campus, Zawahri shot into a Ford Explorer, killing the 68-year-old male driver and fatally wounding the passenger.

[4][15][16] While on the campus, he fired at least 70 rounds, and dropped a duffel bag loaded with magazines, boxes of ammunition and a .44 caliber revolver.

[10][20] Though Zawahri had been killed, officers actively searched the college campus for additional shooters and victims for over eight hours.

[11] Santa Monica College was placed on lock-down and issued a statement on its Facebook page for students to stay away from the campus.

The lock-down was lifted later that day, but the campus grounds remained closed until the following Monday morning, when students were scheduled to take final exams.

[22] In the days and weeks following the shooting, mental health counseling was provided at Santa Monica College to students, employees, and the surrounding community.

[11] On August 7, 2013, exactly two months after the killing spree, the Los Angeles Community College District Board of Trustees adopted a resolution banning firearms on its nine area campuses.

It effectively ended the conduct of non-credit gun safety classes previously offered on LACCD campuses.

[29] One was Margarita Gomez, a 68-year-old woman who was collecting recyclable material,[30] and the other was Carlos Navarro Franco, the 68-year-old groundskeeper for the school and the driver of the Ford Explorer.

[34][35] Law enforcement sources stated that they believed the attack was premeditated, citing the gunman's extensive armament and preparation.

[36] In 2006, when Zawahri was a student at Olympic High School in Santa Monica, a teacher saw him surfing the Web for information on assault weapons and instructions on making explosive devices.

She sought a restraining order against the father for domestic violence a short time later, but the case was dismissed when the mother failed to appear in court.

[35] Randa Abdou was out of the country visiting relatives at the time of the shooting, but returned during the following weekend and was assisting authorities in the investigation.

It was also learned that the California Department of Justice advised Zawahri in an October 2011 letter that he was ineligible to purchase a firearm.