UT-Austin Campus Stabbing: Officials Say Fatal Attack Rooted In Mental Illness [UPDATED]

AUSTIN, TX — University of Texas at Austin President Gregory L. Fenves joined police during a Tuesday morning press conference to dispel rumors circulating related to the fatal stabbing of a student the day before. The incident was not part of an orchestrated attack targeting specific groups, but one rooted in possible mental illness on the part of the attacker, the president said.

Rumors swirled in the aftermath of the Monday afternoon attack that the suspect had targeted members of fraternities in the attack. UT-Austin student Harrison Brown from Graham, Texas, was fatally stabbed outside Gregory Gym on Monday while three other male students in near proximity were slightly injured. Kendrex J. White, another UT-Austin student, was quickly detained following the attack.

"We are all in mourning, and we are hurting as a university community" Fenves said.

The attack comes 13 months after the sexual assault and strangulation death of Haruka Weiser, a freshman dance major attacked by a transient youth along a poorly lit, creek-lined path along the expansive campus. That death, coupled with Monday's attack, has heightened tensions on campus, Fenves acknowledged.

Watch video of Tuesday's press conference by clicking below:

“We have lots of emotions, including fear and distrust,” Fenves said. “I’m hurt and I’m angry that our campus has seen these tragedies with two of our students.”

Fenves said he has since met with Brown's mother and brother, a recent UT-Austin graduate. He noted there were no known connections between the campus stabbing and two separate incidents on West Campus, which involved a stabbing where a man suffered non-life threatening injuries and another involving a body being found.

At Monday's press conference, UT-Austin Police Chief David Carter echoed the president's assessment, debunking the idea the attacks were orchestrated. He said the suspect struggles with mental health issues and had sought treatment elsewhere. White, the suspect, notes on his Facebook page that he hails from Killeen, just north of Austin, although the chief didn't specify where the student had been institutionalized.

Police on Tuesday also released a booking photo of the suspect.

Two of the other students sustaining injuries during the attack have since been released from the hospital while one remains hospitalized, Fenves said during the press conference. Carter credited the quick action by officers for potentially saving more lives.

As for rumors of fraternity members being targeted, the chief seemed resolute in debunking the rumor: “This was not a vendetta against targeted groups,” he said. White has since been formally charged with murder, added Austin Police Department Interim Chief Brian Manley.

As members of the university community cope with this latest violent death on campus, a memorial gathering is scheduled for later this week during which time the centerpiece UT Tower will be darkened — the same treatment undertaken after Weiser's death last April.

Fenves described Brown as a talented musician who had hoped to formally study music while he mulled the idea of majoring in economics. “His family and our community will never be able to hear Harrison play and sing again,” Fenves said. “And For this, our hearts are breaking and we are deeply, deeply sad.”

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In attempt to regain a semblance of normalcy after the stunning campus attack occurring in the middle of the day, Fenves said university officials agreed to resume normal class schedules and activities that were abruptly cancelled yesterday in the stabbing's aftermath.

"Based on information we had last night, we decided to continue with classes and scheduled events today," Fenves said. "The incidents appeared to have no connection, and we felt this was part of the healing process and reconciliation. Students should be with their peers and try, as best as they can, to carry on, as hard as it may be, with their normal activities."

Fenves acknowledged the heightened fear that now suffuses the campus, coming a month after students gathered for a memorial service in the shadows of the UT Tower to remember Weiser, the freshman dance major killed along the dark Waller Creek stretch running through campus, in the one-year anniversary of her death.

"There are a lot of unanswered questions at this time, and our students are not only concerned—there is fear, and that fear is justified."

Fenves noted the grim reality of facing two campus murders in the span of barely a year, coming after a half-a-century period of having no such killings on campus. The chronology was a reference to the infamous campus shooting on Aug. 1, 1966, during which heavily armed sniper Charles Whitman climbed the steps of the tower to the top as his perch, killing 15 people (along with one victim's unborn child) and injured 31 other during the course of a seemingly interminable 96 minutes.

"It is hard to comprehend that in 50 years, there'd never been a violent murder on our campus and have two in one year," Fenves said. "It's simply unexplainable. We have lots of emotions, including fear and distrust, and we recognize there is tremendous pain among the student body. They are asking how can this happen again, and will it happen again, and I'm feeling the same way. I'm hurt and I'm angry that our campus has seen these two tragedies with two of our students."

>>> Photo of University of Texas at Austin crime scene in stabbing's aftermath by Tony Cantú