On a tragic December evening in 1998, Andrzej Wojciech Olbrot, a 52-year-old male professor at Wayne State University, was killed. The incident occurred on December 10, 1998, while Olbrot was administering a final exam to his graduate computer engineering students in the Old Main building on the Detroit, Michigan, campus. As approximately 24 students were focused on their tests, a gunman entered the classroom around 7:20 p.m.
and opened fire on the professor.
Witnesses reported a chilling scene in which the assailant shot Olbrot multiple times with a handgun, paused to reload, and then shot him again as he lay wounded on the floor. Despite the horrific violence directed at the professor, none of the students present in the classroom were physically harmed. The gunman then fled the scene without uttering a word. Olbrot was rushed to Detroit Receiving Hospital, where he was pronounced dead a short time later from at least one gunshot wound to the head.
The following morning, a 48-year-old graduate engineering student named Wlodzimierz Dedecjus walked into the Ann Arbor Police Department and surrendered. He confessed to the shooting, telling officers he 'wanted to make our job easy.' Dedecjus, who was a doctoral student under Olbrot's advisement, was described as coherent and nonchalant during his confession. He was subsequently transferred to the custody of the Detroit Police Department.
Acquaintances of Dedecjus suggested the motive stemmed from his frustration over failing grades that were jeopardizing his pursuit of a Ph.D. He reportedly believed three professors were conspiring against him with poor grades, though Olbrot's ex-wife stated he was not one of the three responsible for the grading in question. Wlodzimierz Dedecjus was charged with first-degree murder and felony possession of a firearm. He was denied bail during his arraignment. A conviction for first-degree murder in Michigan carries a mandatory sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole.
