Murder-suicide triggers lockdown of thousands of students at UCLA, as police swarm campus

Hundreds of heavily armed officers swarmed the sprawling UCLA campus in Los Angeles on Wednesday after a shooting that forced thousands to barricade themselves in classrooms and offices, some using belts and chairs to secure doors, until authorities determined the gunman and the professor he shot were dead.

About two hours after the first 911 call came in around 10am, with the centre of campus still saturated with officers, Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck said it was a murder-suicide and declared the threat over. Two men were dead, and authorities found a gun and what might be a suicide note, he said.

William S. Klug, a professor of mechanical engineering, was gunned down in an engineering building office, according to a law enforcement official. The official has knowledge of the investigation but wasn’t authorised to publicly discuss it. The shooter has not yet been identified.

Colleagues of Klug’s tell The Associated Press he was a married father of two and a kind, gentle person.

UCLA biology and chemistry Professor Charles Knobler said those who knew Klug are in shock. He described the professor as “a very lively, lovable, likeable guy.”

The response to the shooting was overwhelming: Teams of officers in helmets and bulletproof vests looking for victims and suspects ran across the normally tranquil campus tucked in the city’s bustling west side. Some with high-powered rifles yelled for bystanders to flee.