The student news site of El Camino College

El Camino College The Union

The student news site of El Camino College

El Camino College The Union

The student news site of El Camino College

El Camino College The Union

New semester brings same old El Camino back to schools

Seasons change, but news and crime are always happening, especially at El Camino.

From theft to altercations to vehicle damage and even restraining orders against students, there are a multitude of things that can happen.

This semester has already given light to what has been a recent pattern: Big stories happen at, or near, El Camino.

Most recently a student was served a trespassing warning for trying to add a class, with an English teacher.

That teacher has a restraining order against him, as of Feb. 14.

Santa Monica, L.A. Pierce and L.A. Southwest colleges had 110 total reported crimes, while El Camino had 120 total, according to each college’s annual crime report.

El Camino has had more reported crimes than three neighboring community colleges and it doesn’t stop there.

This semester, there has already been several incidents like the potential peeping tom who was found in the women’s locker room and the theft in the men’s locker room while a student was showering.

Last fall:

During the fall 2016 semester (which is not yet included in the annual crime reports) there were five reported armed robberies.

All five were reported to have happened somewhere on Manhattan Beach Boulevard, between Lemoli Avenue and Crenshaw Boulevard (one of which was on campus).

The first two of those cases happened within an hour of each other, and the result is that there is now constant police presence on that street.

At almost any given time a patrol car can be seen on the street parked on the south side of Manhattan Beach Boulevard.

Daniel Morales, 18, business administration major, said that he did hear about the iPhone robbery, but he didn’t think the campus was dangerous.

“The information doesn’t get to me so it makes it feel like it’s not important,” Morales said. “I don’t feel safe on campus.”

Going further back to the end of the spring 2016 semester, two students were on campus shooting a replica air soft gun.

Campus advisories went out and the students were detained and questioned, but no one was harmed.

In January 2015, Peyton Dingman called the Campus Police station via one of the blue telephone poles in Lot F.

Dingman said that he had a hostage at gunpoint, in which ECPD responded to the area and a gunfight broke out.

Dingman was shot in the upper torso and spent time in the hospital and it was later confirmed that his gun was actually a pellet gun.

Off-campus, but close to home:

Ryan Murray, 18, undecided major, said that he heard about the student who got shot by the Baskin Robbins down Crenshaw Boulevard.

“I did think about my safety before coming here, but recently nothing has come to my attention,” Murray said.

The former student who was shot to death at Baskin Robbins was Kody Ryan Cook.

His killer was sentenced to prison this past summer.

Former El Camino student Tommy Cheatham was stabbed in his backyard just last year.

Former El Camino basketball player Wendell Lee was shot and killed two years ago.

There may not be a specific pattern to the plentiful crime reports at El Camino, but the campus continues to have more than other schools.

“I try to keep myself updated,” Murray said. “But I don’t really know where to look.”

More to Discover