Former graduate student Yuhao Du from the physics department at the University of California, San Diego, pleaded guilty to charges of “attempted murder” and “attempting to take a gun from a law enforcement officer on duty”. He was recently sentenced to nearly 23 years in prison and will be held in a California prison.
In November 2022, Du was indicted for allegedly injuring a patrol officer by trying to take the officer’s gun on a highway. During the defense process, he initially refused to plead guilty on the grounds of mental disorder. However, in February of this year, he reached a plea agreement with the prosecution, admitting to the charges of “attempted murder” and “attempting to take a gun from a law enforcement officer on duty”, and agreed to a sentence of 22 years and 8 months. The judge issued the formal sentence on April 23.
On the evening of April 27, 2022, a 25-year-old Du was driving on the San Diego Interstate Highway 8 in the Mission Valley section when he crashed into a barrier pillar. When the highway patrol arrived at the scene, Yuhao Du attempted to snatch the patrol officer’s gun. During the struggle between him and the officer, the gun fired from the officer’s waist, hitting the officer in the thigh.
Du had previously refused to plead guilty on the grounds of mental disorder, but on February 13 of this year, he withdrew his previous plea of not guilty and admitted guilt.
According to reports from the media and confirmed by Dajiyuan, Yuhao Du was a graduate student in the physics department at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) before the incident. A professor’s website in the physics department at the school had shown that Yuhao Du had been an undergraduate student in the department since 2015. The website was updated shortly after the incident, and Yuhao Du’s information and photo are no longer available.
At a hearing held at the end of 2022, a California Highway Patrol officer who interviewed Du testified that the defendant claimed to have mental health issues, which led to multiple hospitalizations before the gun-snatching incident occurred. Voices in his head allegedly commanded him to crash his car into the central barrier of the highway.
The injured patrol officer was Antonio “Tony” Pacheco. Pacheco testified in a previous court appearance that after the car crashed into the barrier, Du got out of the car and stood by the car door, not answering questions but staring directly at him. “After a while, he asked, ‘I want to kill myself, can you kill me?'” Pacheco testified that Du asked this question twice, and he responded, “No, I cannot.”
Pacheco suspected that Du may have been driving under the influence or affected by drugs, as he had blood on his face, and was preparing to call for an ambulance. It was at this moment that Du rushed towards him to try to take his gun from his waist.
Pacheco testified that Du used both hands to grab the gun from its holster. In an attempt to free himself, Pacheco “used all his strength” to punch Du four times but to no avail. During the struggle, he suddenly heard a “pop” sound, then felt a sharp pain in his thigh as warm liquid trickled down, realizing he was injured and bleeding, thinking he might die if it was an arterial bleed.
After the shooting, several passing drivers stopped to assist the injured officer and stop Du until the police arrived at the scene.
In addition to the gunshot wound, Pacheco’s hand was injured from hitting Du with force. He was hospitalized multiple times due to blood clots in his lungs and legs.
According to a report by the San Diego Union-Tribune on November 18, 2022, based on testimony from a hearing that day, a few weeks before the shooting incident, Du was diagnosed with schizophrenia and had received treatment at several local mental hospitals.
Six bystanders who helped the patrol officer at the scene were later commended by the California Highway Patrol (CHP). Among them was a registered nurse who used her backpack straps and Pacheco’s belt to help stop the bleeding, another person used Pacheco’s phone to call for help and notify his wife, some used the officer’s handcuffs to help restrain Du, and others simply held Pacheco’s hand to comfort him.
At an awards ceremony on June 3, 2022, CHP Regional Commander Scott Parker praised the six individuals for their courageous actions, stating, “You approached the dangerous situation without hesitation and restrained the suspect until more civilians and emergency personnel arrived.” Each of the six individuals received a certificate.