The shooter was identified Thursday morning as 54-year-old Napoleon Lavarias Caliguiran of San Jose. He was the husband of Marcony "Cindy" Caliguiran. San Jose State spokeswoman Pat Lopes Harris said this was a case of domestic violence. The release of names was delayed until next-of-kin could be notified in the Philippines.
Cindy Caliguiran and Williams were shot and killed while inside a car belonging to the married couple on the fifth floor of the 10th and San Fernando St. campus garage. A gun was recovered at the scene. Napoleon Caliguiran died later after being transported to a hospital.
A fellow classmate described Cindy Caliguiran as an honors student who worked hard and liked to joke around. Tomasz Kolodziejak said they worked together on a senior project. He did not know that Caliguiran was married. He described her as a private person who never discussed personal problems.
"We got really close. She was a sweetheart," said Kolodziejak. "Everybody liked her in the group. She was this glowing person... hard to believe."
Students gasped as they listened to the news conference on campus Thursday morning, learning that the two murder victims were students.
"We don't know a lot, and we may never know a lot about the series of events that led up to what happened in our garage on Tuesday night," said Harris.
But there may have been clues at the upscale apartment complex where the couple lived in north San Jose. A downstairs neighbor called security recently to complain of foot stomping from the Caliguirans' apartment.
San Jose had 5,000 reports of domestic violence last year. A double homicide is rare.
"Domestic violence is about power and control, and once the perpetrator has any sense that they're losing that control over that person, which means either he suspects that she's reached out to somebody or he suspects that she's leaving, then he becomes desperate, and that's when the risk of homicide takes a toll," said Patricia Bennett, a counselor at Next Door Solutions to Domestic Violence.
Harris said these are the first student homicides on campus in the history of the university. They are the 19th and 20th homicides of the year in San Jose.
