UC Merced students brought closer together after tragedy

MERCED, Calif. (KFSN) -- Two days after the tragedy the campus is not back to normal. It's not business as usual. But students on this already close-knit campus are bonding-- embracing like never before.

While many of the students who left the campus are still gone, UC Merced is coming back to life, and the tragedy seems to have brought the students closer together.

Many students signed cards, thanking campus security for their efforts at keeping them safe. But the incident, in which four people were stabbed and the attacker shot and killed, has created an unsettled mood on campus. "I lost the sense of security I had here. This place is my home. UC Merced has been my home for the past four years and my sense of security was lost at that moment," said Chris Satisoso, from San Diego

Campus Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs, Charles Nies, said the goal now is to make students feel more secure, with each other, but not by increasing security. "We have brought in mutual aid support from our other UC campuses but not necessarily to beef up security on campus."

But students are working to get that sense back. Students were offering free hugs on the bridge where the young attacker, Faisal Mohammed, was shot and killed. "I'm out here because it makes people feel better. And I feel like everybody just needs a hug today," said Ciclari Armas, Los Angeles.