The Los Angeles police on Thursday identified a graduate engineering student, Mainak Sarkar, as the man who killed a University of California professor in a murder-suicide that prompted a two-hour loc
The Los Angeles police on Thursday identified a graduate engineering student, Mainak Sarkar, as the man who killed a University of California professor in a murder-suicide that prompted a two-hour lockdown of the sprawling urban campus.
Sarkar, a 2000 alumnus of IIT-Kharagpur, shot and killed professor William Klug before killing himself on Wednesday, the Los Angeles Times reported, citing sources.
The attack appeared to be provoked by Sarkar’s belief that Klug had stolen computer code from him, according to a March blog post by a person of the same name. “Your enemy is my enemy. But your friend can do a lot more harm,” Sarkar wrote in the post. “Be careful about whom you trust.”
Late on Thursday, it was revealed that the police found a “kill list” from Sarkar’s Minnesota home with the names of Klug, another UCLA professor and a woman.
The woman, whose named has not been released, was found shot dead in her home in a nearby Minnesota town. The other professor on the list is “ok”, police chief Charlie Beck said.
Mr Beck said it appeared mental issues were involved and that Sarkar’s dispute with Klug was tied to Sarkar thinking the professor released intellectual property that harmed him.
The police asked for the public’s help to find Sarkar’s car, which he drove to Los Angeles.
The shooting prompted a complete lockdown of the campus and deployment of hundreds of police officers as well as federal agents. All university classes were cancelled on Thursday. The lockdown was lifted shortly after noon. Officials said classes would resume on Thursday.
Klug, 39, was an associate professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering and had been the target of Sarkar’s anger on social media for months, the paper said.
Before enrolling at UCLA, Sarkar earned a master’s degree at Stanford University, according to his LinkedIn page. In 2000, he graduated from the IIT, Kharagpur with a degree in Aerospace Engineering.
Students said on social media that they had hidden behind doors that could not be locked while the police searched the campus to make sure there were no other gunmen. “How the hell am I going to study for finals when this just happened I can’t think straight,” said a student.
