{"id":397293,"date":"2026-07-14T00:45:10","date_gmt":"2026-07-14T00:45:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/397293\/"},"modified":"2026-07-14T00:45:10","modified_gmt":"2026-07-14T00:45:10","slug":"say-their-name-csuf-vigils-honors-victims-of-1976-library-shooting-orange-county-register","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/397293\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Say their name\u2019: CSUF vigils honors victims of 1976 library shooting \u2013 Orange County Register"},"content":{"rendered":"

Paul Paulson quoted a poem he discovered several years back: \u201cSomeone I love has gone away and life is not the same. The greatest gift that you can give is just to say their name.\u201d<\/p>\n

On Sunday, July 12, at a remembrance for the seven people killed and two other wounded<\/a> when a janitor at Cal State Fullerton opened fire in the campus library 50 years ago, Paulson led those gathered in a call-and-response recitation of the victims\u2019 names, including his sister, Deborah Paulson, who died at age 26.<\/p>\n

The vigil marking the anniversary of the 1976 attack by Edward Allaway, which, until 2011, was the deadliest mass shooting in Orange County<\/a>, was held in the university\u2019s Memorial Grove, the ceremony blending grief with gratitude, as the promise that the dead will not be forgotten was renewed.<\/p>\n

Also killed that day were Frank Teplansky, 51, Stephen L. Becker, 32, Seth Fessenden, 72, Paul F. Herzberg, 30, Bruce A. Jacobson, 32, and Donald E. Karges, 41. Maynard Hoffman, 64, and Donald W. Keran were wounded.<\/p>\n

\"Paul<\/p>\n

Paul Paulsen (left) hugs Cal State Fullerton Vice President Phenicia McCullough during a candlelight vigil on Sunday, July 12, 2026, at Cal State Fullerton in Fullerton. Paulsen\u2019s sister was a victim of the mass shooting on campus 50 years ago. (Photo by Claire Nguyen, Contributing Photographer)\n<\/p>\n

\"Joe<\/p>\n

Joe Almazan (left) and Pat Almazan light the candles during a 50th anniversary memorial for a mass shooting that happened on campus on Sunday, July 12, 2026, at Cal State Fullerton in Fullerton. (Photo by Claire Nguyen, Contributing Photographer)\n<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

A bow is tied to a tree in honor of the seven victims killed in a mass shooting on campus 50 years ago on Sunday, July 12, 2026, at Cal State Fullerton in Fullerton. (Photo by Claire Nguyen, Contributing Photographer)\n<\/p>\n

\"Linda<\/p>\n

Linda Hackleman sheds a tear during a 50th anniversary candlelight vigil for her cousin and six other victims on Sunday, July 12, 2026, at Cal State Fullerton in Fullerton. (Photo by Claire Nguyen, Contributing Photographer)\n<\/p>\n

\"Photos<\/p>\n

Photos of the seven victims killed in a mass shooting on campus 50 years ago are lined up on a table with electric candles on July 12, 1976 are placed in front of candles on Sunday, July 12, 2026, at Cal State Fullerton in Fullerton. (Photo by Claire Nguyen, Contributing Photographer)\n<\/p>\n

\"Jamie<\/p>\n

Jamie Spitzer (left) and Norma Morris pray during a candlelight vigil on Sunday, July 12, 2026, at Cal State Fullerton in Fullerton. (Photo by Claire Nguyen, Contributing Photographer)\n<\/p>\n

\"Joe<\/p>\n

Joe Almazan (left) helps Pat Almazan, whose father was a victim of the campus shooting 50 years ago, hold sheets of paper for her speech on Sunday, July 12, 2026, at Cal State Fullerton in Fullerton. (Photo by Claire Nguyen, Contributing Photographer)\n<\/p>\n

\"Master<\/p>\n

Master of Ceremonies Paul Miller sits and smiles while listening to Todd Spitzer\u2019s speech on Sunday, July 12, 2026, at Cal State Fullerton in Fullerton. (Photo by Claire Nguyen, Contributing Photographer)\n<\/p>\n

\"Cal<\/p>\n

Cal State Fullerton President Ronald S. Rochon smiles at District Attorney Todd Spitzer during a candlelight vigil on Sunday, July 12, 2026, at Cal State Fullerton in Fullerton. (Photo by Claire Nguyen, Contributing Photographer)\n<\/p>\n

\"Joe<\/p>\n

Joe Almazan tucks a lit candlestick into his shirt pocket after a candlelight vigil on Sunday, July 12, 2026, at Cal State Fullerton in Fullerton. (Photo by Claire Nguyen, Contributing Photographer)\n<\/p>\n

\"Attendees<\/p>\n

Attendees of a 50th anniversary candlelight vigil hold lit candlesticks for the seven victims of a mass shooting on Sunday, July 12, 2026, at Cal State Fullerton in Fullerton. (Photo by Claire Nguyen, Contributing Photographer)\n<\/p>\n

\"Pat<\/p>\n

Pat Almazan smiles while talking to Shana Charles, a council member and public health professor at Cal State Fullerton, on Sunday, July 12, 2026, at Cal State Fullerton in Fullerton. (Photo by Claire Nguyen, Contributing Photographer)\n<\/p>\n

\"Cal<\/p>\n

Cal State Fullerton President Ronald S. Rochon provides a campus reflection during a candlelight vigil on Sunday, July 12, 2026, at Cal State Fullerton in Fullerton. (Photo by Claire Nguyen, Contributing Photographer)\n<\/p>\n

Show Caption<\/p>\n

1 of 13<\/p>\n

Paul Paulsen (left) hugs Cal State Fullerton Vice President Phenicia McCullough during a candlelight vigil on Sunday, July 12, 2026, at Cal State Fullerton in Fullerton. Paulsen\u2019s sister was a victim of the mass shooting on campus 50 years ago. (Photo by Claire Nguyen, Contributing Photographer)\n<\/p>\n

Expand<\/a><\/p>\n

Allaway, who had a history of mental illness, was found not guilty by reason of insanity and remains secured in a hospital facility.<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter 50 years, the old black and white photographs may be fading, but our memory of who they were remains as clear as ever,\u201d said Paul Paulson, brother of Deborah Paulson.<\/p>\n

In attendance were several local officials, including CSUF President Ronald Rochon<\/a>, Fullerton Police Chief Jon Radus and Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer, who organized the event with CSUF.<\/p>\n

CSUF officials also unveiled upgrades to the Memorial Grove, including new drought-resistant landscaping, solar lighting, signs and seven personalized benches, alongside five of the seven original stone pines planted after the shooting a half a century ago. In a rare tribute, the university also awarded honorary emeritus status to the seven slain and the two wounded.<\/p>\n

The distinction is traditionally bestowed upon longtime faculty and staff, with CSUF officials honoring the campus careers that were cut short but remain woven into the institution\u2019s history. Among those killed were janitors, a retired professor, a photographer, a library assistant, a graphic artist and an audio technician.<\/p>\n

Pat Almazan, daughter of Frank Teplansky<\/a>, praised her father as a WWII and Korean War veteran, as well as an artist, pianist and magician.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re never fully over losing a loved one, much less to a senseless mass murder. There can never be complete closure,\u201d Almazan said as she described the emotional pain she continues to carry, reliving a portion of it every time she hears of a school shooting in the news. She was 29 years old and on her way to work when she heard a radio report of the mass shooting, saying she knew instinctively her father had been among those shot.<\/p>\n

\u201cI see my father lying on that stretcher, being on his last thread before he died in my arms at St. Jude\u2019s Hospital,\u201d she said. \u201cThat horrible scene has been etched in my mind forever, and it still hurts.\u201d<\/p>\n

Allaway has spent the last few decades in various locked mental health facilities across California, despite numerous attempts to argue that his sanity has been restored and that he should be allowed to leave the secure hospital facilities. After the attack in the library, he had told authorities that he blacked out during an episode induced by paranoid schizophrenia and didn\u2019t remember the shootings.<\/p>\n

Petitions for Allaway\u2019s release were filed several times over the last few decades, but each effort was met with fierce resistance by the Orange County District Attorney\u2019s Office<\/a> \u2014 along with the survivors and families of his victims \u2014 and was ultimately unsuccessful.<\/p>\n

In mid-June, a public defender filed the latest \u201crestoration of sanity\u201d motion on Allaway\u2019s behalf in Orange County Superior Court. The motion requests that a judge allow Allaway to leave a geriatric unit at Napa State Hospital and instead take part in outpatient treatment. The defense attorney wrote that Allaway \u201cno longer presents as a danger to himself or others in the community.\u201d<\/p>\n

On June 30, a judge ordered officials with the Conditional Release Program \u2014 part of the California Department of State Hospitals \u2014 to prepare a report about Allaway, court records show. A hearing to discuss the \u201crestoration of sanity\u201d motion is scheduled for late September.<\/p>\n

Spitzer told those gathered Sunday that his office is fighting the new application for Allaway\u2019s release.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy definition of justice is that this person needs to die away from society,\u201d he said. \u201cSome people just should never have the privilege to come back and join us as a citizen in our free society.\u201d<\/p>\n

Paulson said he didn\u2019t want the remembrance to be about the crime.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019d rather use this opportunity to celebrate the sense of love and community that prevails here this evening, casting light over darkness, good over evil,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Paulson closed the vigil with a quote from Helen Keller: \u201cWhat we have once enjoyed, we could never lose. All that we love deeply becomes part of us forever.\u201d<\/p>\n

Staff Writer Sean Emery contributed to this report.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Paul Paulson quoted a poem he discovered several years back: \u201cSomeone I love has gone away and life…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":397294,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[163,165,164,2627,7,2628,23,611,2944,136],"class_list":["post-397293","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-anaheim","tag-anaheim","tag-anaheim-headlines","tag-anaheim-news","tag-cal-state-fullerton","tag-california","tag-fullerton","tag-local-news","tag-orange-county","tag-photos-and-videos","tag-top-stories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/397293","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=397293"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/397293\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/397294"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=397293"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=397293"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=397293"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}