News

Sarkar, the LA gunman, who killed his professor, also shot dead his wife

by IBNS 02 Jun 2016, 10:40 pm

Los Angeles, June 3 (IBNS) Mainak Sarkar, the gunman who killed a UCLA professor before committing suicide on campus Wednesday had a kill list, including a woman, who was also shot dead and is believed to be his wife, Los Angeles Times reported.

The 38-year-old Indian-American,  a former doctoral student and Minnesota resident, left a list at his home  that included the names of the woman, UCLA professor William Klug and a second professor who is safe, reports quoted , LAPD Chief Charlie Beck as saying on Thursday.

Local news reports in Minnesota said Sarkar, a 38-year-old IIT Kharagpur graduate, killed his wife Ashley Hasti before embarking on a 2,000-mile (3,220-kilometer) journey to Los Angeles in his car to shoot his former professor.

Sarkar shot Klug multiple times in a small office in UCLA Engineering Building 4 before taking his own life.

Sarkar had accused Klug of stealing his computer code and giving it to someone else, according to police.

Beck said investigators believe Sarkar killed his wife before driving to Los Angeles to continue his rampage, armed with two semi-automatic pistols and multiple rounds of ammunition.

"We believe he went there to kill two faculty of UCLA," Beck said. "He was only able to locate one. The second member was off campus."

When detectives arrived at Klug’s office on Wednesday morning and found  his and Sarkar's bodies, they also recovered a note from Sarkar listing his home address in Minnesota and asking someone to “check on my cat.”

“Immediately we were highly suspicious,” Beck told The Times. “That made me uneasy about what we would find when we got to Minnesota.”


Authorities went to the woman’s home in Brooklyn Park, a Minneapolis suburb, and found her body just after midnight Thursday, Brooklyn Park Police Deputy Chief Mark Bruley said at a news conference.

“We have multiple detectives working on this case,” Bruley told The Times. “We’re working with LAPD to coordinate our efforts.”