UCLA shooting: Mainak Sarkar broke into his wife’s house

A student of the University of California, Los Angeles, is hugged by a friend during a vigil on Friday to remember Professor William S. Klug, who was shot dead by Mainak Sarkar. (Photo: AP)

Mainak Sarkar, the Indian-American behind the UCLA murder-suicide, seems to have forced his entry into his estranged wife’s home before shooting her dead and boarded a bus to the varsity to kill his former college professor, authorities said on Saturday.

The 38-year-old IIT-Kharagpur alumni is believed to have intruded into the Brooklyn Park residence in the nearby town where Ashley Hasti, who he married in 2011, lived.

Officers also found Sarkar’s car, a grey 2003 Nissan Sentra with Minnesota license plate 720KTW, parked in his old neighbourhood. They also found a broken window they believe he used to enter Hasti’s home.

A bomb squad that inspected the vehicle found no explosives but, the police said a handgun and cans of gasoline were in the trunk.

Authorities said the fuel was apparently there so Sarkar did not have to stop on his trip from Minnesota, where he killed 31-year-old Hasti a few days ago.

Initially, there were conflicting reports about the status of their marriage but the police on Sunday confirmed Hasti was still legally Sarkar’s wife when she died of multiple gunshot wounds. Hasti had been separated for some time and lived separately, they said.

According to the Los Angeles police, Sarkar finished his 3,000 km-long journey to California by bus as he knew the bus route to the University of California, Los Angeles where he killed professor William Klug, who he had accused of stealing his computer code and giving it to someone else.

The police also suggested mental issues with Sarkar, who later turned the gun on himself.