updated:
LOS ANGELES (CNS) – A UCLA professor and another man were killed in a
murder-suicide inside an engineering building today, prompting fears of a
possible active shooter on the campus and leading to an intensive sweep of the
university by local and federal authorities.
The shooting was reported shortly before 10 a.m. in Boelter Hall, part
of the Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science, according to the
university. The entire campus was placed on lockdown and the Los Angeles Police
Department went on a citywide tactical alert as officers swarmed the
engineering building and campus.
LAPD Chief Charlie Beck said two men were found dead inside a small
office in the building, and a gun was found nearby.
“A homicide and a suicide occurred in the engineering part of the UCLA
campus on the south side,” Beck said. “It appears it is entirely contained.
We believe there are no suspects outstanding, and no continuing threat to
UCLA’s campus.”
Beck said at least three shots were fired. He confirmed evidence was
found at the scene “that could be a suicide note, but we do not know that at
this point.”
Authorities declined to identify the victims, but students, many of whom
took to social media to offer condolences, identified one of the victims as
William Scott Klug, a UCLA professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering.
According to his online biography, he earned a bachelor’s degree from
Westmont College in 1998, a master’s at UCLA in 1999 and a doctorate from
Caltech in 2003.
The gunman was believed to be a graduate student.
The Daily Breeze newspaper reported that Klug’s family was gathering at
his El Segundo home, but declined to comment.
“It’s just very very sad to hear this,” Lance Giroux told KCAL9,
choking up as he spoke of his friend, who was a husband and father of two
children.
Klug coached Giroux’s 10-year-old son’s Little League team in El
Segundo, Giroux said.
“Never a negative word; always very positive,” Giroux told KCAL9.
“Kids loved working with him ’cause he was such an easy coach to work with.
“It’s hard to even fathom it. To have your son grow up without a dad is
rough, so I’m hoping that the community here could kind of rally around that.”
Once the killings were determined to be a murder-suicide, police
continued to thoroughly sweep through the building and several adjacent
buildings “out of an abundance of caution.”
All classes were canceled for the day at the university, along with
evening activities, but Scott Waugh, UCLA vice chancellor and provost, said
campus operations would return to normal Thursday — except for engineering
classes, which will be canceled for the rest of the week.
Waugh said this weekend’s and next week’s final exams would not be
disrupted.
“We want to resume normal operations as quickly as possible so we will
resume scheduled classes tomorrow morning,” Waugh said.
“Faculty, staff and students should show up tomorrow and go through
their regular routines and complete the quarter as planned. We will go ahead
with commencement and final examinations over the next few weeks and hope to
return our campus to normal and return the Bruin community to its normal
operations.
“This is a tragic event but it does show that with adequate preparation
and good cooperation with all our law enforcement agencies, we can bring it
to a successful close.”
The initial reports of a shooting prompted the university to send a
“Bruin Alert” to all students and staff notifying them to avoid the area or
shelter in place. Via social media, some students reported hunkering down in
restrooms or classrooms, unsure of there was an active shooter wandering the
building.
Photos posted on social media sites showed students using metal
furniture, tables, belts — anything they could find — to secure doors because
they did not lock from the inside.
As police began clearing classrooms, students were seen walking from
buildings, often with their hands raised and some being subjected to pat-downs
as they left.
Along with the LAPD and UCLA campus police, the FBI and federal Bureau
of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives both dispatched agents to the
campus.
Also responding to the scene were police from Santa Monica College,
where a shooting spree occurred June 7, 2013, ending when officers killed the
gunman in the campus library. Five other people died in that shooting.
President Barack Obama was briefed aboard Air Force One about the UCLA
shooting, according to the White House.
Fairburn and Warner elementary schools and Emerson Middle School, all of
which are located near UCLA, were placed on lockdown during the
investigation, according to the Los Angeles Unified School District. Those
schools returned to normal operations shortly after noon.
UCLA officials said the university is offering counseling services to
students and staff affected by the shooting. According to UCLA, the university
has designated “healing spaces” on the campus where students can gather, and
counselors will also be available for students at the Counseling and
Psychological Services office. The Staff and Faculty Counseling Center at 10920
Wilshire Blvd. will remain open until 10 p.m. and be open again from 8 a.m. to
8 p.m. Thursday and 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday.
An account benefiting the Klug family has been established on the
website Gofundme.com, with more than $5,000 raised in the first two hours.
Donations to the Klug family memorial fund can be made at gofundme.com/27gqffg
CNS-06-01-2016 21:38
