A University of San Diego (USD) philosophy professor recalled on Thursday the wave of fear that washed over her when she found the image of a sniper rifle and crosshairs on her office floor.
“It was the sign of a sniper,” Lori Watson told NBC 7. “Like, what you would look through if you were going to shoot someone. And I became immediately alarmed that it was some kind of threat, that a shooting was about to happen, or that someone intended to shoot me.”
Watson is one of four USD faculty members who were the alleged targets of threatening messages sent by Louis Komjathy, a colleague and faculty member in USD’s Department of Theology and Religious Studies.
After learning about USD administrators suspending Komjathy on Sept.10, court documents reveal startling new details about the extent of those threats at the center of the school’s discipline.
Watson and a colleague, Professor Emily Reimer-Barry, obtained court-ordered restraining orders against Komjathy. The two women, accompanied by their attorney, were at court Thursday for a hearing on Watson’s restraining order.
Outside the courtroom, they spoke publicly for the first time about their reaction when they saw a series of aggressively worded messages directed at them in postings around campus, and, in Watson’s case, slipped under her office door, allegedly by Komjathy.
“I thought perhaps some kind of active shooter situation might be about to unfold,” Watson recalled. “I thought there might be some kind of violence on campus that day. I was terrified.”
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The professors immediately notified campus security after the Sept. 3 incident.
According to court records, Komjathy admitted his responsibility for the threats the following day when questioned by USD security officers.
“It was a massive mistake,” Komjathy is quoted as saying in court documents. “I did not mean to infer violence on anyone.”
The court documents note that Komjathy, a renowned expert in Chinese philosophy and religion, was upset about being denied a promotion to full professor in USD’s Theology department.
“I wanted them to feel like what I felt like,” Komjathy told campus officers. He said the crosshairs and other threatening symbols, notes, and drawings he posted were “...supposed to be a symbolic representation of having a target on their backs and being singled out.”
Watson said Komjathy’s “history of escalating” and “history of aggression” prompted her to install an alarm system at her house.
Reimer-Barry also sought and received a restraining order against Komjathy. Reimer-Barry told NBC 7 she was worried that Komjathy could find her home address and threaten or assault her.
“Public Safety had informed me that I would be safe on campus,” she said. “I wanted that sense of safety off-campus as well.”
A San Diego Police Department detective also sought and obtained a Gun Violence Restraining Order against Komjathy. While court documents indicate that Komjathy does not currently own any guns or ammunition, the restraining order prohibits him from buying or possessing any firearms.
Komjathy did not file a response or opposition to the restraining orders and was not available for comment on this story. His attorney declined to comment on the allegations, and the scheduled hearing on Watson’s civil restraining order was delayed in order to not conflict with the police department’s criminal investigation. Komjathy has since reportedly moved, at least temporarily, to Chicago to be with family.
Speaking outside the courtroom, Reimer-Barry thanked her USD colleagues for their support and help in answering questions from students in their classes.
In an email sent to the USD community shortly after the incident, USD President James Harris did not name Komjathy but noted that “A professor took responsibility for the flyers and the inappropriate behavior. The individual was suspended, removed from campus, and is not permitted to return to campus or participate in any USD-related off-campus events while we conduct our investigation and initiate the next steps.”
