What makes this a phishing message?
This targeted phishing scam impersonates the UC Berkeley faculty member or campus lab manager.
This email is sent to the parents of a student working in a campus lab. It invents a phony 'accident' that damaged an expensive piece of lab equipment and asks the parents of the lab member to reimburse the lab for part of the cost of replacement.
This targeted phishing scam uses urgency and fear to cause the recipients to act, extorting money from a phony accident.