Shooter named in murder-suicide at US university

NEW YORK (AA) - Police on Thursday identified the shooter in a murder-suicide on the campus of University of California-Los Angeles (UCLA) as former doctoral student Mainak Sarkar.

The Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) said Sarkar, 38, had accused the victim of stealing his computer code and giving it to someone else, media reports say. The LAPD declined to confirm the accusation to Anadolu Agency.

The Los Angeles Times reported that several sources have identified the victim in the shooting Wednesday as William S. Klug, 39, an associate professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering and the father of two young children.

The newspaper quoted his colleagues who praised Klug as a brilliant academic and a kind person. Alan Garfinkel, a professor of integrative biology at the school, said he was “absolutely devastated.

“You cannot ask for a nicer, gentler, sweeter and more supportive guy than William Klug,” Garfinkel said.

The UCLA campus was placed on lockdown at 10 a.m. local time (GMT1600) Wednesday after the school and the police reported shootings at the Engineering IV building.

The lockdown was lifted two hours later, after authorities determined an apparent murder-suicide had taken place and had secured the area.
UCLA is home to nearly 30,000 undergraduate students.