The gunman who shot and killed a UCLA professor Wednesday in an apparent murder-suicide has been identified as Mainak Sarkar, a former doctoral student who had a "personal conflict" with the professor. Sarkar is also linked to the shooting death of another victim in Minnesota.
Police Identify UCLA Shooter in Murder-Suicide as Mainak Sarkar
Sarkar, a resident of Minnesota, used a 9mm semi-automatic pistol to kill 39-year-old engineering professor William Scott Klug in a small office in UCLA Engineering Building 4, before turning the gun on himself.
Based on a note found at the crime scene, authorities performed a follow-up investigation at Sarkar's residence in Minnesota, where they found an alleged "kill list" with multiple names on it, including Professor Klug's and another UCLA professor, whose name was not disclosed.
There also appears to be another victim in Minnesota. A woman's name was also on Sarkar's list, prompting investigators to go to her home. The unidentified victim was found shot dead at the residence.
According to authorities, Sarkar drove from Minnesota to the Los Angeles area with two handguns, multiple rounds of ammunition and several magazines in a backpack. Investigators are still looking for the vehicle.
As for a possible motive for the UCLA shooting, police say it was tied to a "dispute over intellectual property where Sarkar felt that he had information released by the professor that harmed him."
Sarkar, a member of a computational biomechanics research group run by Klug, had accused the professor of stealing his computer code and giving it to someone else, according to the Los Angeles Times.
The accusations spilled over into social media. Sarkar had reportedly been posting angry messages about Klug for months. On March 10, Sarkar called the professor 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."
UCLA has denied Sarkar's claims, calling it "the workings of his imagination."
Police say the other UCLA professor named on Sarkar's list has been contacted as "is fine." The professor also taught Sarkar when he was a student at UCLA.
Details about Sarkar and his victims are still emerging, but needless to say, this whole ordeal is pretty disturbing. Our thoughts are with everyone in the UCLA community. Also, fuck guns.
More here: UCLA gunman had 'kill list,' linked to second slaying in Minnesota