University City was a master planned community of 2500 acres acquired in 1959 from Sawday-Sexton . Originally University City was supposed to serve as a residential haven for the University of California , San Diego employees and students , where both college presidents and janitors would be able to live in the same community . On March 10 , 1989 , a pipe bomb attached to the minivan of a woman exploded while she was driving near the University Towne Center mall . She was the wife of Will C. Rogers III , the captain of the who gave the order to shoot down Iran Air Flight 655 . She escaped the blast . Initially , it was suspected to be a terrorist retaliation for the downing of the airliner , but the investigation shifted away from this hypothesis . At this time , the bombing is still unsolved
Iran Air Flight 655
Iran Air Flight 655
University City, San Diego