Los Angeles: The gunman who shot and killed a UCLA professor
Wednesday has been identified as Mainak Sarkar, a former
doctoral student who had accused the victim of stealing his
computer code and giving it to someone else, according to Los Angeles police, reported Los Angeles
Times.
Sarkar took his own life after killing William Klug,
39, in a small office in UCLA Engineering Building 4, sources
confirmed.
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. 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,’ Sarkar wrote.
Prof William worked with a team to develop a
computer-generated virtual heart, media reports said. He was married with two
young children.
Meanwhile, a source called the accusations of
Sarkar “absolutely untrue.†“The idea that somebody took his ideas is
absolutely psychotic,†the university source said.
Klug, who was described by friends as a kind and caring man,
bent over backward to help Sarkar finish his dissertation and graduate
even though the quality of his work was not stellar, the source added.
"Bill was extremely generous to this student, who was a
subpar student,†the source said. “He helped him out and interceded for
him academically."
In his doctoral dissertation, submitted in 2013, Sarkar
expressed gratitude to Klug for his help and support.
A syllabus from 2010 lists Sarkar as one of two
teaching assistants in a mechanical and aerospace engineering course, MAE: 101:
Statics and Strength of Materials. Sarkar was listed in the 2014 doctoral
commencement booklet with Klug as his advisor.
“Thank you for being my mentor,†he wrote in the
acknowledgements, according to LA Times.
Before enrolling at UCLA, Sarkar earned a master’s degree at Stanford University following an undergraduate
degree in aerospace engineering at the Indian Institute of Technology in
Kharagpur, according to his LinkedIn page.
In the U.S.,
he also had a stint as a research assistant at the University of Texas
and worked as a software developer.
After UCLA, Sarkar worked remotely as an engineering analyst
for an Ohio-based rubber company, Endurica LLC.
"I am absolutely devastated," Alan Garfinkel, professor of
integrative biology and physiology who worked with Klug to develop a
computer-generated virtual heart, was quoted as saying by the Los Angeles
Times.
"You cannot ask for a nicer, gentler, sweeter and more supportive guy than
William Klug," Garfinkel added.
Klug earned his under-graduate degree in engineering physics from Westmont College in 1997, his Master’s in civil
engineering at UCLA in 1999 and his Ph.D. in mechanical engineering from
California Institute of Technology in 2003.
The shooting happened shortly before 10 a.m. in Boelter Hall, which is part of
the Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science, according to the
university.
Shortly, the entire campus was placed under lockdown. About an hour after the
shooting was reported, police confirmed two dead people were found inside a
small room of the engineering building.
“Our hearts are heavy this evening as our campus family mourns the sudden and
tragic deaths of two people on our campus earlier today,†said Chancellor Gene
Block in an email to the UCLA community.
“The thoughts and prayers of our entire UCLA family are with the victims’
families and the students, faculty and staff of UCLA Engineering," he
added.
