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 Nohemi Gonzalez, 23, was a junior at California State University,
Long Beach, just south of Los Angeles, and was studying for a
semester at the Strate College of Design in a suburb of Paris, said
CSULB spokesman Michael Uhlenkamp.
On Friday night, several sites around Paris were targeted in a
coordinated assault by gunmen and bombers in what the Paris public
prosecutor said killed at least 129 people and wounded more than
350, of whom nearly 100 remain in critical condition. Islamic State
on Saturday claimed responsibility for the attacks.
Gonzalez, who was from El Monte, California, was with a group of
students at a restaurant when she was shot during the attack, said
university spokeswoman Terri Carbaugh.
 Another California student also was shot and wounded, but was able
to flee the restaurant, Carbaugh said. The woman later watched as
Gonzalez was carried out on a stretcher, she said.
California State University, Long Beach, will hold a vigil on Sunday
to mourn Gonzalez as well as the deaths of others in the attacks.
"Nohemi was something of a star in our department," said Michael
LaForte, who oversees the department of design at the CSULB. "She
was a mentor to other students and she will be extraordinarily,
profoundly missed."
On Oct. 20, in a post on Facebook, Gonzalez talked about studying in
French. "Learning a 3D modeling computer program in a language I
don't know is up there in the top 3 hardest things I've ever had to
do," she wrote.
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A spokesperson for the U.S. State Department would only confirm that
one American citizen had been killed, but did not release a name out
of respect for privacy of the family. "We continue to reach out to
other Americans affected by these attacks, including several
Americans who were injured," the spokesperson said.
California State University, Long Beach, officials said they could
not say at which restaurant Gonzalez was killed. But Washington Post
national security reporter Adam Goldman in a post on Twitter said it
was at Le Petit Cambodge. More than a dozen people died at the
eatery.
Gonzalez's friend, her classmate Niran Jayasiri, wrote on Facebook:
"You were one of the most down-to-earth, cheerful, bubbly, helpful
and honest people I knew."
(Reporting by Alex Dobuzinskis in Los Angeles, Ben Klayman in
Detroit and Idrees Ali in Washington; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and
Diane Craft)
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