The UC Davis police officer who achieved worldwide infamy for pepper-spraying a group of students at point-blank range during a protest last fall has been "terminated" by the university, according to the Sacramento Bee.



Lt. John Pike, whose image was broadcast around the world as a symbol of excessive police reaction to Occupy protests, is no longer employed by UC Davis, a university spokesman said.



The spokesman was prohibited by law from commenting further, the newspaper reported.



Pike, who earned over $110,000 a year in his role as a campus cop, told reporters that he was "being terminated" in a campus meeting on Tuesday.



Pike and another police officer used pepper-spray on a group of seated protesters who had refused police orders to disperse. After images and video of the casual point-blank spraying was broadcast worldwide, Pike received threatening emails, voicemails, and was the victim of prank orders to his house, the newspaper reported.



Numerous students have filed lawsuits against the university, and the Yolo County district attorney is weighing whether to file charges, the newspaper reported.