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2 People Die In Murder-Suicide Shooting On UCLA Campus

A Los Angeles policeman and sheriff's deputies investigate a fatal shooting at UCLA on Wednesday.
Ringo H.W. Chiu
/
AP
A Los Angeles policeman and sheriff's deputies investigate a fatal shooting at UCLA on Wednesday.

Updated at 1:30 a.m. ET Thursday

Two bodies were found in a small office in an engineering building on the UCLA campus Wednesday. Los Angeles Police Department Chief Charlie Beck said the incident was a murder-suicide.

Beck said a gun was recovered at the scene, adding, "There is evidence that there could be a suicide note."

The Associated Press, quoting a law enforcement official speaking on condition of anonymity, identified the murder victim as 39-year-old William Klug, an associate professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering. Students took to social media confirming the victim's name.

The presumed shooter has not been identified.

Police swarmed the UCLA campus in response to reports of an active shooter. The campus was placed on lockdown for several hours after the shooting was reported around 10 a.m. local time.

Beck said there had been reports of at least three shots fired — but that after the danger was deemed to have passed, police were in the process of turning the campus back over to UCLA's students.

"They're in their finals; this is a very stressful time for them," Beck said.

"There's not been any reports of any bombs or devices," LAPD Capt. Andy Newman said in response to a question about other possible threats.

A shooting was reported late Wednesday morning on UCLA's campus; police reported that the shooter was in the Engineering IV building.
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A shooting was reported late Wednesday morning on UCLA's campus; police reported that the shooter was in the Engineering IV building.

Both UCLA's newsroom and its student newspaper reported that the campus was on lockdown as police investigated a reported shooting in the area of two adjacent buildings: Engineering IV and Boelter Hall. After that news emerged, the LAPD said that an "active shooter" was in Engineering IV.

"Police confirming two shooting victims at UCLA," the school's newsroom tweeted as the situation evolved Wednesday.

Copyright 2020 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Bill Chappell is a writer and editor on the News Desk in the heart of NPR's newsroom in Washington, D.C.