Stephen L. Becker, 32, was one of seven people killed when a gunman opened fire in the California State University, Fullerton library on July 12, 1976. The attacker, Edward Charles Allaway, a university custodian, used a .22-caliber semi-automatic rifle he had bought days earlier. Becker is reported to have tried to wrestle the rifle away during the attack, an action believed to have helped spare additional lives.

Allaway fled after the shooting, went to a nearby hotel and called police to surrender. He was later diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia and found not guilty by reason of insanity; he was committed to a state mental hospital. The case prompted attention to mental health and workplace violence and deeply affected Becker’s family and the university community.

If anyone knew Stephen Becker or remembers the events at the library that day, please share what you remember.