Former Cal Poly student Charles Hojaboom has been sentenced to 6 years and 2 months in state prison for multiple firearm offenses committed on the Cal Poly campus in 2023.
On August 27, 2025, Hojaboom pleaded no contest to shooting at an inhabited dwelling, discharging a firearm with gross negligence with an admission he “personally used” a deadly weapon, vandalism, and five counts of possessing a loaded firearm on a college campus. Because of those admissions and convictions, he received two separate “strikes” under California’s Three Strikes Law.
The charges stem from four separate shootings between June 10 and November 11, 2023. Three occurred outdoors at different campus locations; on October 27, 2023, investigators say Hojaboom fired a bolt‑action rifle from his dorm room and a bullet traveled through the ceiling into the room above. No injuries were reported.
Judge Catherine Swysen imposed a sentence below the DA’s requested maximum; Hojaboom received 1,472 days of custody credit and will be transported to state prison to begin serving his term. His future eligibility for early release is currently uncertain.
