Wife Of UCLA Shooter Found Dead In Brooklyn Park
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- The Los Angeles Police Department confirmed Thursday that a woman on a "kill list" in connection to Wednesday's murder-suicide at UCLA was found dead in a Minnesota home.
WCCO has confirmed the victim is Ashley Hasti, who was married to the shooter, Mainak Sarkar, on June 14, 2011, according to the Hennepin County Clerk's Office. It's unclear if the two were still married at the time of the shooting. Family members said Sarkar had been noticeably absent from family gatherings, and that Hasti had kicked Sarkar out of the house, and they had been living separately for some time.
University of Minnesota officials say Hasti enrolled at the university's medical school in 2012 and was still a student there. She was set to start her summer session next month. She also received her undergraduate degree from the school in Asian Language and Literature from the college of liberal arts in 2008.
Authorities say Hasti was named on a note found after Wednesday's incident at UCLA, which led authorities back to Minnesota. The Brooklyn Park Police Department says it responded at about 12:34 a.m. Thursday to the 2400 block of Pearson Parkway after a request from Los Angeles police to do a welfare check related to Wednesday's murder-suicide in California.
According to LAPD Capt. Andy Neiman, Sarkar used a 9mm semi-automatic pistol to fatally shoot William Scott Klug in his office at UCLA on Wednesday.
When officers got to the Brooklyn Park residence, they found Hasti who was dead from an apparent gunshot wound. Authorities say the early indications are the incident happened before the murder-suicide at UCLA.
Authorities say Sarkar's note in California asked officers to check on his cat at his St. Paul apartment. It was there that investigators found the "kill list," which included the names of the two victims and another UCLA professor, who wasn't harmed.
Authorities say they believe Sarkar drove from Minnesota to L.A., and they are still looking for his car -- a 2003 Nissan Sentra. The vehicle has a Minnesota license plate 720-KTW.
Brooklyn Park police said Thursday they are not looking for any additional suspects in connection to Hasti's death. Authorities said they do believe it's connected to Sarkar.
Klug was a mechanical engineering professor at UCLA. Sources tell CBS News Sarkar had a blog post in which he accused the professor of stealing his ideas and computer code. Friends say Klug was a dedicated husband and father of two young children.
Students returned to campus on Thursday, with the exception of engineering classes, which are canceled for the rest of the week.
The Brooklyn Park Police Department is working with authorities in Los Angeles in the investigation. The Hennepin County Sheriff's Crime Lab and the Medical Examiner's Office is also assisting with the investigation.
