The disturbing murder-suicide incident that took place on the campus of the prestigious UCLA (University of California, Los Angeles a top ranked research university in the USA) recently has been in the international headlines for a number of reasons. Many more details about the incident where a student killed himself and his former professor are now coming to light. Here’s what you may not know about the UCLA shooting:
The shooter is identified as Mainak Sarkar
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Mainak Sarkar was a 38 year old who had passed out of IIT Kharagpur. He studied aerospace engineering and passed out of IIT in 2000. After he killed a professor and himself, two semiautomatic pistols, extra magazines and a backpack were found next to him.
He killed William Klug
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Mainak Sarkar killed William Klug at the ULCA engineering building in a small 4th floor office. Klug was a former professor and mentor of his but had lately been subject to a series of social media attacks by Sarkar.
It seemed to be an intellectual property dispute
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Sarkar had accused the professor of stealing his computer code and then giving it to someone else. He warned people to stay away from Klug on his blog, accusing him of making him “really sick”, warning others about “friends” who “can do a lot more harm”.
He had a kill list
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Investigators found a note that they are calling a ‘Kill List’. The note included the names of his wife Ashley Hasti and another professor who is safe.
Sarkar seemed to be psychotic
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People familiar with the killer said that his relationship with Klug was psychotic. Sarkar was probably depressed and unable to study. Klug is described as very well regarded and popular chemistry and biology professor; someone who may have been able to make a real impact on developments relating to human health.
He may have killed another woman, probably his wife/ girlfriend
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A wish list, asked someone to take care of his cat and this let the authorities to an address where a woman was found dead. It is thought that this woman was probably his wife or his girlfriend and that he had killed her before driving over to kill Klug.
Author: Reena Daruwalla
