Skip to main content

Police Find UCLA Shooter's Kill List and Motive

By Ephrat Livni, Esq. on June 02, 2016 | Last updated on March 21, 2019

Yesterday the UCLA campus was terrorized by the shooting of an engineering professor by a disgruntled former student who claimed his teacher and adviser stole his computer code. Mainak Sarkar, the gunman, killed himself and Professor William Klug.

Today police found a "kill list" in the shooter's Minnesota home with two names, Professor Klug of UCLA and a woman, found dead later in Minnesota, reports the Los Angeles Times. California lawmakers are already referring to this incident as another reason to pass gun control laws in the state. Let's look at what is known so far about the academic intrigue that led to this tragedy.

Stealing the Code

William Klug, 39, taught mechanical and aerospace engineering at UCLA and ran a research group that examines the intersection of mechanics and biology, according to CNN. He also coached his son's little league baseball team. Mainak Sarkar, the graduate engineering student who shot him, is said to have a long grudge against the professor, warning students away from him online. Both men were found inside an office in the UCLA engineering building yesterday, dead.

Sarkar was reportedly Klug's adviser and he claimed that the professor stole valuable computer code from him, according to police. The Los Angeles Times looked at Sarkar's social media activity and noted that the shooter wrote, "I urge every new student coming to UCLA to stay away from this guy, 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 Virtual Heart

Klug's colleagues and neighbors presented a very different picture. He was called a great father, an affable and popular coach, and a man of character and imagination.

"Bill was an absolutely wonderful man, just the nicest guy you would ever want to meet," said UCLA professor Alan Garfinkel, according to USA Today. "Devoted family man, superb mentor and teacher to so many students. He was my close colleague and friend. Our research together was to build a computer model of the heart, a 50 million variable 'virtual heart' that could be used to test drugs."

For the Students

Meanwhile, UCLA students who are about to take final exams for the semester are shaken up by the campus shooting that had them on lockdown for hours. Despite complaints about the emergency procedures, it seems no other students were hurt.

Related Resources:

Copied to clipboard