Academics

University Of California President Janet Napolitano Issues Statement Following UCLA Shooting

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Janet Napolitano, president at the University of California, has issued a statement on June 2 regarding the recent UCLA shooting.

Napolitano expressed her grief as the shooting has claimed one member of the faculty. The UC president has deemed the murder-suicide as senseless violence. The statement was published on the University of California website.

The events on June 1 took the life of Department of Mechanical Engineering professor William Klug. The professor died at the age of 39, and was survived by his wife and two children.

The shooter, Mainak Sarkar, was a former UCLA doctoral student. Sarkar has shot the Klug in the professor's office, before taking his own life.

Witnesses have stated that Sarkar fired two shots, which ultimately killed the professor. The LAPD believes that the shooter came into UCLA armed with two pistols with a few magazines of ammunition.

The police reported that Sarkar blamed Klug of stealing Sarkar's computer code, and somehow gave it to someone else, according to the LA Times.

The killer had left a suicide note that led the authorities to his home in St. Paul, Minnesota. It is where the LAPD had found out that that Sarkar had killed his wife, Ashley Hasti, whom of which married Sarkar in 2011.

Charlie Beck, the LAPD chief, has stated that they had found a "kill list" from where the body was found. The note bore Hasti's name, and Klug's name, along with another UCLA professor, whom of which the authorities has declined to disclose to the public; LAPD confirmed that the second UCLA professor is safe.

In response to the events that took place on June 1, UCLA has announced on June 9 that it will create a task force to probe what took place in the university.

Michael Beck, Administrative Vice Chancellor, is reported to be responsible in assembling the task force. Beck was already conducting a security analysis on the campus before the decision of creating a task force was made, as CBS reported.

The UCLA shooting is the 186th campus shooting in the United States since Sandy Hook.

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