The shooter of the June 1 University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) murder-suicide has been identified as Mainak Sarkar. Officials also say he killed a woman in Minnesota.
The shooting led to a lockdown at the UCLA campus with a huge police response until authorities determined there was no continuing threat.
Sarkar, 38, shot and killed mechanical engineering professor William Klug in an office before turning the gun on himself.
Sarkar was born on June 16, 1977, the LAPD said on Twitter. He was a former doctoral student at the school, the Los Angeles Times reported, citing police.
The shooter is a resident of Minnesota, and had killed a woman in a small town in that state, police said. LAPD Chief Charlie Beck said the woman was found dead.
Authorities also found a “kill list” in Sarkar’s home, which named a second UCLA professor.
The shooter had been lashing out on Klug on social media for months. On March 10, Sarkar called Klug a “very sick person” who should not be trusted.
“William Klug, UCLA professor is not the kind of person when you think of a professor. He is a very sick person. I urge every new student coming to UCLA to stay away from this guy,” Sarkar wrote. “He made me really sick. Your enemy is my enemy. But your friend can do a lot more harm. Be careful about whom you trust,” said Sarkar, according to the Los Angeles Times.
However, in his 2013 doctoral dissertation, the shooter was grateful for Klug’s help and support.
A syllabus from 2010 shows Sarkar as one of two teaching assistants in a mechanical and aerospace engineering course, MAE: 101: Statics and Strength of Materials.
Sarkar was listed in the 2014 doctoral commencement booklet with the victim as his advisor.
“Thank you for being my mentor,” Sarkar wrote.
“He was trying to discover how that happened,” said Alex Levine, a physics and biochemistry professor who collaborated with Klug and was his friend for a decade, according to AP.
“I was shocked and I’m still shocked. I’m devastated to lose a friend and a colleague,” Levine said.
The Los Angeles mayor released a statement after the shooting saying, “This horrific event, at an institution dedicated to learning and mutual understanding, reminds us once again of the fragility of a peaceful society.”
“Thankfully, the campus is now safe—but I am heartbroken by the sight of SWAT teams running down avenues normally filled with students, and angered by the fear that one person with a firearm can inflict on a community. I want to commend the entire UCLA community for its extraordinary grace and calm on a traumatic morning,” said Mayor Eric Garcetti.
Classes continued on June 2 except for the engineering department, which will resume next week. UCLA is also offering counseling for students, faculty, and staff, the institution said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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