Officers Swarm UCLA In Massive Response To Murder-Suicide
LOS ANGELES (CBS LA/AP) -- A murder-suicide at a UCLA engineering building Wednesday drew hundreds of heavily armed officers who swarmed the sprawling Los Angeles campus, where students close to summer break barricaded themselves in classrooms as best they could before being evacuated with their hands up.
The shooting was reported in the school's Engineering IV building at around 10 a.m., and an alert was sent to all faculty and students. The school soon swarmed with hundreds of officers dressed in tactical gear, investigating the possibility of an active shooter and searching for any additional shooting victims.
The entire campus was placed on lockdown for nearly two hours following the shooting.
WATCH: Student describes UCLA lockdown: 'Teacher .. made them flip all the tables, put them up against the door' pic.twitter.com/UxcbyRPVsV
— CBS Los Angeles (@CBSLA) June 1, 2016
At around 12 p.m., LAPD Chief Charlie Beck declared the campus to be safe, confirming that the shooting was a murder-suicide, with two men dead in an office. Authorities found a gun and what might be a suicide note at the scene, he said.
"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 in the incident.
The campus lockdown was lifted shortly after Beck's 12 p.m. press conference.
The victim was identified Wednesday afternoon as Prof. William S. Klug, who taught at the university's engineering school. Klug was killed by a disgruntled student, sources told KNX's Claudia Peschiutta.
Following the lockdown, students were being led out of buildings and frisked by police before they were allowed to leave.
#UCLA students led out of building on lockdown earlier today. @CBSLA pic.twitter.com/7gwft67qCx
— Kristine Lazar (@CBSLAKristine) June 1, 2016
The school is currently in the final week of instruction of Spring Quarter. Common final exams are scheduled for Saturday and Sunday, with final exams scheduled for next week.
UCLA has more than 43,000 students, of which 29,000 are undergraduates. The campus, located in the Westwood area of Los Angeles, is 419 acres.
For more on the story, go to CBS LA here.