A recent University of the Pacific graduate was shot multiple times Friday during the mass slaying at a suburban Denver movie theater.
Petra Anderson, who graduated in May from UOP's Conservatory of Music, was one of 71 people who were shot during the massacre in Aurora, Colo. She underwent surgery and is recovering. Twelve people died in the shooting, but more than 50 others are suffering from injuries.
"Petra was a very gifted and talented student," said Maria Pallavicini, the university's provost and acting president. "She was very visible in the campus community. She was a violinist and an opera student."
Pallavicini and Elizabeth Griego, the university's vice president for student life, said Anderson's family told them she is recovering well. Anderson is a Colorado native.
"It's extremely difficult to hear about something like this happening to one of our students," Pallavicini said. "We are a small campus community, so people know each other and support each other."
The family has requested continued prayers from university and community members, she said.
In light of the incident, UOP is promoting its Office of Public Safety and Campus Chaplain Joel Lohr for students who want counseling.
"Having met Petra personally, I know I join all of you in feeling shocked and saddened by what has happened," Griego wrote in a statement.
Another man from Sacramento, James Cameron, was also at the movie theater. Cameron said in an interview with Fox News that he was visiting a friend and they went to the move premiere.
He told Fox that they were in the theater adjacent to Theatre 9, where 24-year-old suspect James Egan Holmes opened fire and released tear gas. His friend started having an asthma attack and Cameron said they fled.
"This has been a nightmare of a night," he told Fox, saying he saw a baby girl struck in her back and injured people "all over the place." Cameron has not returned The Bee's phone calls.
© Copyright The Sacramento Bee. All rights reserved.
• Read more articles by Andrea Gallo
What You Should Know About Comments on Sacbee.com
Sacbee.com is happy to provide a forum for reader interaction, discussion, feedback and reaction to our stories. However, we reserve the right to delete inappropriate comments or ban users who can't play nice. (See our full terms of service here.)
Here are some rules of the road:
• Keep your comments civil. Don't insult one another or the subjects of our articles. If you think a comment violates our guidelines click the "Report Abuse" link to notify the moderators. Responding to the comment will only encourage bad behavior.
• Don't use profanities, vulgarities or hate speech. This is a general interest news site. Sometimes, there are children present. Don't say anything in a way you wouldn't want your own child to hear.
• Do not attack other users; focus your comments on issues, not individuals.
• Stay on topic. Only post comments relevant to the article at hand.
• Do not copy and paste outside material into the comment box.
• Don't repeat the same comment over and over. We heard you the first time.
• Do not use the commenting system for advertising. That's spam and it isn't allowed.
• Don't use all capital letters. That's akin to yelling and not appreciated by the audience.
• Don't flag other users' comments just because you don't agree with their point of view. Please only flag comments that violate these guidelines.
You should also know that The Sacramento Bee does not screen comments before they are posted. You are more likely to see inappropriate comments before our staff does, so we ask that you click the "Report Abuse" link to submit those comments for moderator review. You also may notify us via email at feedback@sacbee.com. Note the headline on which the comment is made and tell us the profile name of the user who made the comment. Remember, comment moderation is subjective. You may find some material objectionable that we won't and vice versa.
If you submit a comment, the user name of your account will appear along with it. Users cannot remove their own comments once they have submitted them.
Order Reprint
About Comments
Reader comments on Sacbee.com are the opinions of the writer, not The Sacramento Bee. If you see an objectionable comment, click the "Report Abuse" link below it. We will delete comments containing inappropriate links, obscenities, hate speech, and personal attacks. Flagrant or repeat violators will be banned. See more about comments here.