Stanford employee, 26, arrested on charge of attempted murder

FILE: People play in the Red Hoop Fountain as others lounge in the sun outside of the Cecil H Green Library on the campus of Stanford University June 9, 2016 in Stanford, Calif. FILE: People play in the Red Hoop Fountain as others lounge in the sun outside of the Cecil H Green Library on the campus of Stanford University June 9, 2016 in Stanford, Calif. Photo: Leah Millis / The Chronicle Buy photo Photo: Leah Millis / The Chronicle Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Stanford employee, 26, arrested on charge of attempted murder 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

An assistant admissions director at Stanford University in Palo Alto, Calif., was arrested Sunday on attempted murder charges, according to the San Francisco Police Department.

James Shirvell, 26, was booked into San Francisco County Jail on charges of attempted homicide, assault with a deadly weapon other than a gun, and domestic violence.

SFPD spokesman Robert Rueca says that due to the confidentiality requirements around domestic violence cases, details of the incident can't be shared.

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Shirvell made a court appearance Wednesday, where his attorney stated that Shirvell and his girlfriend had both taken LSD, before Shirvell allegedly stabbed her "multiple times," KRON reported.

The victim's mother read a statement on behalf of her daughter, which stated in part, "James was not at all aware during the incident. He was possessed by another force and had no intent to do me harm. This was a horrific incident that doesn't reflect his true character.

"He is still the best thing that has ever happened to me," the statement concluded.

The judge ordered a psychiatric evaluation for Shirvell, and he is currently being held without bail, according to KRON.

Shirvell graduated from Yale in 2014, where he was on the track and field team according to his LinkedIn profile.

Before starting a job as an admissions counselor at Stanford in 2016, he was a Dean's Fellow at Yale and helped create the Yale-NUS College in Singapore.

His Facebook profile reveals he's originally from Mystic, Conn.

"Mr. Shirvell has been placed on leave and will not be coming on campus or performing any admissions work," Stanford spokesperson E.J. Miranda wrote in a statement to SFGATE. "We are continuing to gather information on this matter to inform next steps."