UCLA shooter’s ‘kill list’ had slain Minnesota woman and two professors, investigation reveals
The killer Mainak Sarkar also targeted the second professor, but could not find him on the bustling campus on Wednesday, says Los Angeles police chief Charlie Beck
A former UCLA graduate student killed a woman in Minnesota before carrying two semi-automatic pistols and a grudge back to the Los Angeles campus, where he fatally shot a young professor he once called a mentor then killed himself, police said on Thursday.
The attack came after Mainak Sarkar, 38, had composed a “kill list” with the names of the woman and two UCLA professors, Los Angeles police chief Charlie Beck said.
Detectives believe Sarkar also intended to kill the second professor but could not find him on Wednesday on the bustling campus, Beck said.
Your enemy is your enemy. But your friend can do a lot more harm. Be careful about whom you trust.
Authorities pieced together the case as most classes resumed a day after thousands of students and staff members were locked down on the sprawling campus. Its normally tranquil paths and hallways were swarmed by a small army of officers clad in body armour and wielding high-powered rifles.
Students who could flee did, and those who couldn’t leave locked or barricaded classroom doors and huddled in nervous silence.
The investigation unfolded rapidly after Sarkar left a note in the office where he killed professor Bill Klug. It mentioned the second professor on the “kill list” and asked anyone who read it to check on Sarkar’s cat in St Paul, Minnesota.
When authorities went to Sarkar’s apartment, they found the list of planned targets. Authorities checked the residence of the woman in a nearby town and found her body. Police have not publicly identified the woman or the unharmed professor, who also belonged to UCLA’s engineering faculty.
Sarkar had disparaged Klug online and the professor knew of his contempt, but police have not uncovered any death threats, Beck said. The writings contained “some harsh language, but certainly nothing that would be considered homicidal”, he said.
