A Southern California university employee was stabbed to death Monday morning in what police believe was a targeted attack on the first day of the academic year, investigators said.

Fullerton police responded around 8:30 a.m. to a parking lot on the California State University, Fullerton campus to reports of an assault with a deadly weapon. A man in his 50s was found inside a car bleeding from his head with several stab wounds.

The unidentified man was a retired faculty member working in the international admissions department, police said. Investigators have not determined a motive for the killing, but they said they believed the victim was targeted.

“We don’t believe there is a random stabber on the loose at this particular time,” Fullerton police Lt. Jon Radus told the Los Angeles Times.

Messages left to a police spokesperson from Fox News were not immediately returned.

The suspect was described as a man in his 20s with black hair. Investigators were using bloodhounds to try and locate him.

Extra police patrols were ordered for the campus, located 40 miles south of Los Angeles.

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Police said there was no active threat but told people to avoid the area where the stabbing unfolded. People with cars within the police investigation area will not be able to retrieve them, the school tweeted, "as this is an active investigation."

A scheduled film shoot near the campus library was canceled, university police tweeted. The school is part of the 23-member California State University system and enrolled more than 39,000 students last year.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.