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posted by martyb on Friday June 03 2016, @07:19PM   Printer-friendly

A PhD student who shot and killed a professor before killing himself claimed that the professor had stolen his code:

The student who shot and killed his engineering professor and then himself at a Los Angeles university had accused the professor of stealing his code.

In a blog post on March 10, Mainak Sarkar, 38, said Professor William Klug, 39, "is not the kind of person when you think of a professor. He is a very sick person. I urge every new student coming to UCLA to stay away from this guy." He continued: "I was this guy's PhD student. We had personal differences. He cleverly stole all my code and gave it another student. He made me really sick. Your enemy is your enemy. But your friend can do a lot more harm. Be careful about whom you trust. Stay away from this sick guy." The post has since been taken down.

On Wednesday, nearly three months after posting it, and seemingly upset at poor grades, Sarkar drove from his home in Minnesota to Los Angeles where he confronted and gunned down Professor Klug at the university's engineering complex. Sarkar then turned the gun on himself and killed himself. The Los Angeles Times quoted an unnamed UCLA source as saying the allegation that Klug stole his student's code was "absolutely untrue."

The professor's name was found on a "kill list" written by Sarkar, along with another professor who wasn't on campus at the time of the shooting and has been confirmed to be safe. Sarkar reportedly killed his estranged wife in Minnesota before traveling to UCLA. Also at Los Angeles Times , The New York Times , CNN.


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  • (Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Friday June 03 2016, @07:34PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday June 03 2016, @07:34PM (#354754)

    Sounds like the typical "grudge collector" - someone who just can't let go of perceived wrongs (legit or not).

    My impression is that describes a lot of these mass-shooters who aren't just outright suicidal. Some of them have specific people they target for payback and some of them are just so stressed out by constantly ruminating on the wrongs done to them that they end up taking it out on whomever is handy, the proverbial "last straw" that triggers them to lose it.

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  • (Score: -1, Troll) by The Mighty Buzzard on Friday June 03 2016, @08:04PM

    Sounds about right. You hold on to hate it's only going to fester. If you can do something about a wrong, do something about it. If you can't, let it go [youtube.com] (if it's going to be stuck in my head, it's going to be stuck in yours too).

    If we could get people to apply that philosophy to their daily lives not only would there be far less mass shootings, there'd also be nothing left of the Democratic party as we know it today (come on, they're "you're owed something" merchants and you know it) and a Republican party someone might actually be proud of.

    --
    My rights don't end where your fear begins.
    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday June 03 2016, @08:06PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Friday June 03 2016, @08:06PM (#354768)

      Yes democrats are mass shooters.

    • (Score: 3, Insightful) by NotSanguine on Friday June 03 2016, @08:19PM

      Sounds about right. You hold on to hate it's only going to fester. If you can do something about a wrong, do something about it. If you can't, let it go (if it's going to be stuck in my head, it's going to be stuck in yours too).

      Agreed. I guess I'm lucky in that I can't really stay angry (at a perceived or real slight) for more than ten minutes or so. Add that to being very easily amused, and I have a pretty darn good life. :)

      I wonder what makes someone hold on to anger like that. Perhaps they just don't have an outlet for it? Or maybe they have to confirm their own importance (read: ego) by being angry at those who have wronged them? Or maybe they just don't see others as people, just objects to manipulate?

      It's sad, really. As my sister used to say, "hurt people hurt people."

      --
      No, no, you're not thinking; you're just being logical. --Niels Bohr
      • (Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Friday June 03 2016, @08:35PM

        by Anonymous Coward on Friday June 03 2016, @08:35PM (#354786)

        I think its more tied back to our primitive roots. If two people had a problem they'd fight over it and come to a resolution one way or another. Nowadays there is not always a way to resolve conflicts and people are forced to deal / get over it, but that doesn't remove the biological drive, and so such anger can fester.

        I think your perspective is skewed by having a "pretty darn good life". Everyone deals with some amount of bullshit, but if you have a good support system it is easier to let things slide off and go away. At least in the US our culture has become very divisive and judgmental, and if you are outside the social norms and cliques then you can expect to have a hard time with few to no people to help you out.

        Letting go of the anger is best, but my point is that not all people have been taught how to do so, or have had the support structure to help accomplish letting go.

        Maybe we need a new form of social service workers: conflict resolution experts. Some basic therapy and support might be worth the public cost.

        • (Score: 3, Informative) by The Mighty Buzzard on Friday June 03 2016, @08:48PM

          You wanna know a secret? We're all outside of the social norms and have a hard time.

          --
          My rights don't end where your fear begins.
          • (Score: 1, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Friday June 03 2016, @09:10PM

            by Anonymous Coward on Friday June 03 2016, @09:10PM (#354819)

            Duh, we're on SN...

      • (Score: 2) by frojack on Friday June 03 2016, @08:55PM

        by frojack (1554) Subscriber Badge on Friday June 03 2016, @08:55PM (#354807) Journal

        I wonder what makes someone hold on to anger like that. Perhaps they just don't have an outlet for it? Or maybe they have to confirm their own importance (read: ego) by being angry at those who have wronged them? Or maybe they just don't see others as people, just objects to manipulate?

        I suspect the sane can not really understand or have a clear idea of what goes on in the head of the truly crazy.
        Maybe MDC can tell us, but I doubt it. He's not that crazy.

        --
        No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
      • (Score: 2) by boltronics on Saturday June 04 2016, @07:53AM

        by boltronics (580) on Saturday June 04 2016, @07:53AM (#355041) Homepage Journal

        I don't think it's something they consciously have control over. Possibly a combination of stress, pressure to meet objectives or standards, high expectations from friends and family, being surrounded by people with strong negative emotions, no free time to relax or get enough sleep, high blood pressure, depression, too much sugar and/or caffeine in the diet, constant headaches or various other factors.

        It's probably hard for people going through any of this to appear likeable, but it may be that they just need some positive human interaction and time to relax, and get some happiness in their life. Sometimes that's easier said than done.

        --
        It's GNU/Linux dammit!
    • (Score: 2) by LoRdTAW on Friday June 03 2016, @11:40PM

      by LoRdTAW (3755) on Friday June 03 2016, @11:40PM (#354910) Journal

      Troll level: meh

  • (Score: 2) by TrumpetPower! on Friday June 03 2016, @08:45PM

    by TrumpetPower! (590) <ben@trumpetpower.com> on Friday June 03 2016, @08:45PM (#354795) Homepage

    Sounds like the typical "grudge collector" - someone who just can't let go of perceived wrongs (legit or not).

    Well, that explains the problem right there. I'm pretty sure he was supposed to have implemented a garbage collector....

    Cheers,

    b&

    --
    All but God can prove this sentence true.
    • (Score: 2) by davester666 on Sunday June 05 2016, @07:48AM

      by davester666 (155) on Sunday June 05 2016, @07:48AM (#355433)

      ...and he totally forgot about the release at the end of each collection sweep....

  • (Score: 2, Disagree) by Username on Friday June 03 2016, @08:53PM

    by Username (4557) on Friday June 03 2016, @08:53PM (#354805)

    Sounds more like an honor killing and jihad, thought I doubt that would make the news.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday June 03 2016, @09:10PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Friday June 03 2016, @09:10PM (#354820)

      Yeah, fox news would totally sweep that shit under the rug.
      Those libtards are such big muslim apologists. Traitors.

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday June 03 2016, @09:17PM

        by Anonymous Coward on Friday June 03 2016, @09:17PM (#354826)

        Fox news is primarily financed by a shit load of Islamic investors from oil rich middle east nations.

        Can you say, "Controlled Opposition"? How about "Noob"? Because you are one.

        • (Score: 1, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Friday June 03 2016, @09:26PM

          by Anonymous Coward on Friday June 03 2016, @09:26PM (#354835)

          Nope. I'm just a guy who watches fox news a lot and they never miss a chance to connect the dots.

          Go ahead, prove me wrong. Lets see one case where a muslim was involved in a crime and fox didn't make sure we all knew he was a muslim.

        • (Score: 2) by jmorris on Friday June 03 2016, @11:19PM

          by jmorris (4844) on Friday June 03 2016, @11:19PM (#354900)

          It isn't just that. Nobody wants to really stir em up at FNC. Hannity is pretty much the only one left that even tries and it is clear they have him on a choker chain and keep it yanked pretty tight. Beyond the Saudi investors basic fear does the job of silencing people.

          Glenn Beck's book "It is about Islam" is notable. Like most folks like him, most his stuff is mostly created by a staff of writers, researchers, etc. Except that book. He was clear in discussing the issue, that he wasn't bogarting all of the credit. All of the other books appearing under his name list all of the other contributors but every one of the people who worked on that book asked to have their name deleted for personal security reasons. Mark Steyn notes that when they celebrate anniversaries of certain 'free speech' events (hint: Religion of Peace involved) it often is down to him and some other guy.., everyone else from the original event either being dead or in hiding.

  • (Score: 5, Interesting) by tractatus_techno_philosophicus on Friday June 03 2016, @09:19PM

    by tractatus_techno_philosophicus (6130) on Friday June 03 2016, @09:19PM (#354830)

    I knew a grudge collector just like this in college. He was a fellow Computer Science student and one of the biggest egomaniacs I and my friends ever knew. He couldn't handle being criticized, and was under ludicrous amounts of additional stress because he was also in the University Honors Program. He constantly retold stories of teachers who had "wronged him" in high school (and even younger), and it was clear that he had never once been able to let go of any criticism of him in his entire life up to that point. He perceived any form of criticism, even the constructive criticism of a good teacher, to be a direct assault on him. I would have felt sorry for him, had he not also been a colossal creep and an asshole to everyone around him. He collected years worth of criticisms and held on to them as grudges. Eventually, spurred by an existential crisis related to his fundamentalist-Christian view of the world, he completely lost his mind.
    Where the story takes an interesting turn is via an incident which he caused in February of 2011 (we were all Juniors at the time). Apparently, all of the stress and mental anguish he had been building inside himself for years, courtesy of his inability to admit he was a normal human being like everyone else, caused him to have a mental breakdown. He went insane at the Computer Science building, running from room to room, switching the lights on and off, climbing on top of vending machines, typing on random students' laptops and sticking his feet on people. Within minutes the campus police were called, and he was strapped down in the back of an ambulance. There was never an incident like that at the Computer Science building before, and there hasn't been one since. Although a stray outlier at the time, I believe this guy is a symptom of a much bigger problem, and that more people like him are coming soon to a college campus near you.
    This guy, I believe in my heart of hearts, has the potential to be a mass shooter, as he fits the psychological profiles of multiple, past mass shooters pretty well. This guy needed and still needs help, and he isn't getting it from his church, his idiot parents or anyone else. He is part of the coddled "trophy generation", of which I am also. The difference between he and I is that I know I'm flawed and constantly strive to improve myself. I've had my ass handed to me multiple times throughout my life, and it was usually due to unrealistic or completely warped expectations I had of the world. I learned from those mistakes, and changed my thinking to suit a real and unfair world. Life is tough, brutal even, and I know I deserve nothing other than what I work for. I'm entitled to nothing, and that's totally alright. The reason I believe that progressively more people like him are coming is due to the coddling and complete lack of hardship which American kids today enjoy courtesy of lazy, suburban life. That kind of upbringing doesn't prepare you for a job, a family or anything else difficult and rewarding to acquire and maintain.
    Paying attention to the world and my relation to it, as well as admitting my inadequacies, has helped to reshape my ego into one which will actually benefit me and those around me. My old classmate, on the other hand, has an ego so large and poisoned by laziness and fundamentalism that he will never be able to learn the lessons in life which are the most important, will continually attempt to enforce his insane and unrealistic view of the world onto everything around him and he will fail every time. Moral of the story: Embrace humility and relish sanity; reject it, and become an asshole and/or a lunatic.

    --
    No moral system can rest solely on authority. ~A.J. Ayer
    • (Score: 2) by Bot on Saturday June 04 2016, @01:32AM

      by Bot (3902) on Saturday June 04 2016, @01:32AM (#354957) Journal

      That seems a narcissist. You are right in associating the trophy generation with narcissism, even if it the objective would be to promote equality (which is evil, on entering the real world the student is even more shocked), a narcissist mind filters out everybody else, so the equalizing part gets lost.

      --
      Account abandoned.
    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday June 04 2016, @09:55PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Saturday June 04 2016, @09:55PM (#355284)

      Here's another one [wikipedia.org] from 20+ years ago.