Chancellor Michael Drake
Message to the Campus Community Regarding Shooting Incident
September 14, 2009

The UC Irvine community was shocked and saddened to learn of the tragic shooting death of a 30-year-old UC Irvine alumna, Rebecca Edwina Clarke (’04, biological sciences), Sunday evening in Verano graduate student apartments. Our hearts go out to her family, loved ones and friends.

Thanks to the very prompt response of the UC Irvine Police Department – in particular the officer who responded within seconds of hearing gunshots, the Irvine Police Department and members of the Verano community, the suspect was subdued and apprehended within minutes. We are extraordinarily grateful for the vigilance and valor of our police and community members.

We have learned that the victim, who did not live on campus, and the suspect were previously married and had a 4-year-old child, who is now with family members. The suspect, physics graduate student Brian Hughes Benedict, age 35, is currently in custody of the Orange County Sheriff’s Department.

A joint investigation by UCIPD and Irvine PD is under way, with the full support of the campus community. Counseling services were made available on scene last night and will be offered on an ongoing basis. We encourage all members of the campus community to seek support as needed: www.counseling.uci.edu or call 949-824-6457.

Our campus regularly conducts programs in violence prevention and offers comprehensive counseling services to our students. Despite this isolated incident, UC Irvine is a very safe campus and we will continue doing everything in our power to keep it that way.

We will provide updates as the situation evolves.