Breaking news out of California where police have named the suspect in yesterday’s murder-suicide at UCLA.
According to reports, the shooter was a former Ph.D student named Mainak Sarkar. Sarkar, a graduate of the India Institute of Technology with a Master’s degree from Stanford, had allegedly accused Professor Klug of stealing his computer code and had been angry with the married father of two for weeks prior to the shooting:
Confirmed: UCLA gunman who shot and killed a professor ID'ed today as Mainak Sarkar, former Ph.D student, says LAPD https://t.co/eWhAxDmmvT
— Los Angeles Times (@latimes) June 2, 2016
From the Los Angeles Times:
Klug was an associate professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering and had been the target of Sarkar’s anger on social media 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.”
A university source called the gunman’s accusations “absolutely untrue.”
“The idea that somebody took his ideas is absolutely psychotic,” the source said.
The student paper at UCLA had originally described the shooter as a “white male”:
Shooter is described as a white male about 6 feet tall, according to sources.
— Daily Bruin (@dailybruin) June 1, 2016
Hardest hit is the liberal narrative:
Mainak Sarkar, native-born American Tea Partier. Or something.
— Kurt Schlichter (@KurtSchlichter) June 2, 2016
If "Mainak Sarkar" was "David Wilson" we'd have his life story, political affiliation, religion, and NRA member # by now. #UCLAShooting
— John Cardillo (@johncardillo) June 2, 2016
Uh oh the white male shooter narrative isnt holding true better nix the story!!! https://t.co/U28JO5j2or
— robert milden (@colognebottle5) June 2, 2016
We’re also seeing reports that the gun used in the shooting was a 9mm handgun and that Sarkar had no “apparent criminal history”:
CBS reports that the man responsible for the murder-suicide at UCLA used a 9mm handgun, not a shotgun as CNN said. https://t.co/8goHp4GXle
— Charles C. W. Cooke (@charlescwcooke) June 2, 2016
From CBS News:
A law enforcement source said Sarkar, the deceased shooting suspect, used a 9mm semi-automatic and had no apparent criminal history, reports CBS News senior investigative producer Pat Milton.
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Editor’s note: We’ve corrected a typo in this post.
