UCLA shooter's car found in Culver City

The car that UCLA shooter Mainak Sarkar drove to Califoia to carry out a killing spree was found Friday in Culver City as police in two states continued to work together to understand his motive, Culver City Police confirmed Friday.

Sarkar drove to Califoia in a gray 2003 Nissan Sentra which has Miesota license plates, to kill two UCLA professors. But before that, he had broken into his wife’s Miesota home where she was later found dead, police there confirmed Friday.

Sarkar, 38, was legally married to Ashley Hasti, 31, but the two were separated for some time and were living in different locations, according to a statement from the Brooklyn Park Police department, which serves a suburb northwest of Mieapolis.

“Officers did locate a broken window where it is believed Mr. Sarkar had entered the home of Hasti to commit the crime,” Brooklyn Park Police said. Officers said there were no police calls related to Hasti or Sarkar.

Sarkar, who graduated from UCLA in 2013, had created a “kill list,” in his Miesota home, which included the names of professor William S. Klug, a mechanical and aerospace engineering professor, and Hasti.

LAPD Chief Charlie Beck said this week that Sarkar had filled a backpack with two handguns and multiple ammunition magazines and drove out to Los Angeles to carry out the shooting.

Sarkar killed Klug, a mechanical and aerospace engineering professor Wednesday moing on the fourth floor of the Engineering IV building and then took his own life, police said.

A semi-automatic gun was found there as well as a note on Sarkar’s body requesting that those who found him care for his cat back in Miesota.

“We did a thorough investigation of Sarkar’s residence in Miesota and found extra ammunition,” Beck said Thursday in an appearance on KTLA (Chael 5). Beck said the kill list also included the name of another professor.

Sarkar intended to kill the second UCLA professor on Wednesday, but when he got to the campus, “he was only able to locate one,” Beck added.

The third name led officers to a Miesota home, where Hasti was found dead of a gunshot wound. Sarkar and Hasti were married in 2011, according to the Twin Cities Pioneer Press.

“The homicide investigation continues at this time in coordination with the Los Angeles Police Department,” according to the Brooklyn Park Police statement. “While all preliminary evidence suggests that Mr. Sarkar is the suspect, there is significant physical evidence that is being analyzed to assist in confirming his involvement. It is expected to take several weeks for results of this evidence to be available.”

Advertisement