Edward Charles Allaway
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Edward Charles Allaway was a former custodian who worked at the California State University, Fullerton. On July 12, 1976, opened fire with a .22-caliber rifle in the library basement, killing seven and injuring two. He was found not guilty by reason of insanity, and was ordered committed to Patton State Hospital.
[edit] Library basement shooting
Allaway armed himself with a .22-caliber semiautomatic rifle and roamed the halls of the campus library, methodically shooting nine people, killing seven in a duration of five minutes. He drove to a nearby hotel where his estranged wife worked, called police and quietly surrendered.
[edit] Trial
After a 1977 jury convicted Allaway of murder but deadlocked in the sanity phase of the trial, a judge found Allaway not guilty by reason of insanity. By law, defendants found insane are committed to a mental institution until they are found sane. In 2001, Allaway's clinical team at Patton State Hospital in San Bernardino County determined that his illness, paranoid schizophrenia, was in remission, giving Allaway his best shot at freedom. But in a hearing that attracted international media attention, a judge ruled that Allaway still posed as a danger to society and should not be released during a ruling upheld by the California Supreme Court in December 2003.
