Who is UCLA Shooting Victim William S. Klug? Professor and Engineer was Father of Two; Gunman Identified
UPDATE: The shooter was identified as Mainak Sarkar, a former student. Sarkar reportedly accused professor Klug of stealing computer codes and handing it to someone else who hasn't been identified.
Classes were disrupted on Wednesday at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) after a murder-suicide incident left two killed, a professor and the student gunman, who ended up shooting himself.
Authorities identified one of the fatalities as mechanical and aerospace engineer William S. Klug, a 39-year-old father of two who was known to be a kind and brilliant educator, Los Angeles Times said. His fellow professors described him as a gentle, sweet and nice colleague.
Get Our Latest News for FREE
"I am absolutely devastated," integrative biology and physiology professor Alan Garfinkel told Los Angeles Times. Klug's students also remembered him as someone who did not want to see his students fail.
The male gunman was not identified by the authorities, but sources claimed that he could be a graduate student, as per Fox News. The suspect reportedly became violent because he was upset with his grades.
The main question left in everyone's mind was how Klug ended up to be the suspect's target when he was always known around the campus to be patient and had no conflicts with anybody, Daily Mail mentioned.
The professor's friend, Peter Gianusso, said he was not only a great professor but also a loving family man. He added that Klug was quiet, light-hearted and loved his family.
Klug was part of the team who studied computational biomechanics. He mainly dealt with creating computer models of viruses and how these affect humans. Aside from his excellence in the field of science, Klug also loved to surf and was a faithful Christian.
In an article on a magazine of Westmont College, the professor said his deep faith in God made him rely on Him especially on the things that he has no control of. "Knowing there is a God responsible for the world makes a big difference in my motivation to understand it better," Klug said.
Heavy noted that Klug's wife, Mary Elise Richter, is an engineer who married the professor in 1999. They lived in El Segundo with their two children. It was also in this community where the educator functioned as a coach of his son's little league team.
Due to the shooting incident and Klug's death, school officials and authorities have decided to suspend all activities at the UCLA campus for 24 hours. Policemen will also continue to conduct their investigation on what really happened on Wednesday morning.
