One L. Goh, born Su Nam Ko on November 18, 1968, in South Korea, immigrated to the United States with his family at a young age. He first settled in Springfield, Virginia, and later lived in Hayes, Virginia. In 2000, he became a naturalized U.S. citizen. In 2002, he legally changed his name from Su Nam Ko to One Goh, stating he believed his Korean name sounded “like a girl's name.”

Goh had a troubled personal life, marked by financial difficulties, debt, and a series of minor legal issues, including traffic violations. He lived in Oakland, California, at the time of the shooting and had previously been a student at Oikos University, a small Christian college that catered mostly to the Korean-American community.

On April 2, 2012, One L. Goh entered Oikos University in Oakland, California, armed with a .45-caliber semi-automatic handgun. He was seeking revenge against the school and its community after feeling disrespected and excluded. Goh forced a receptionist into a classroom, lined up students against the wall, and began shooting execution-style, targeting people at random as well.

In total, seven people were killed and three others injured. It became the deadliest mass killing in Oakland’s history. After the shooting, Goh fled the scene and was captured later the same day at a Safeway grocery store in nearby Alameda, where he had turned himself in.

Following his arrest, Goh was charged with seven counts of murder and three counts of attempted murder. However, he was later declared mentally unfit to stand trial and spent the following years in a psychiatric facility under legal supervision.

On March 20, 2019, One L. Goh died by suicide, hanging himself in his jail cell at California State Prison–Sacramento while awaiting trial. He was 50 years old at the time of his death.