The gunman, 37-year-old Edward Charles Allaway, was a custodian at the university's library. Armed with a .22 caliber semi-automatic rifle he purchased at a Buena Park Kmart, 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. Witnesses told investigators that Allaway's attack began shortly before 7am, with some witnesses claiming the gunfire was like a machine gun in a movie, while others likened it to a "popping" noise. He reportedly chased down Deborah Paulsen and Donald Karges before killing them, and shot Bruce Jacobson after Jacobson attempted to subdue him with a metal statue. 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, he then shot Stephen Becker before he ran out of bullets.