University of California, Los Angeles, claimed a murder-suicide which killed two people on Wednesday, resulting into the complete shut down of the campus for two hours.
Officer in camouflage responded to reports of shooting in tactical gears. Reporting a gun was recovered from the scene Los Angeles Police chief Charlie Beck told reporters, “A homicide and a suicide occurred.”
“It appears to be entirely contained. There are no suspects outstanding and no continuing threat to UCLA's campus,” he further added. Without offering further details, officials confirmed both victims were males.
UCLA, a prestigious school in University of California system has more than 43,000 enrolled students. It is situated in Westwood section of Los Angeles and famously known for its sports program.
As reports of shooting came, the security reached the spot with tactical gears such as bulletproof vests, rifles and helmets. They surrounded the whole campus. An armed vehicle was also parked at an intersection and helicopters were deployed overhead. All the students as well as campus staff was watching the proceedings while taking pictures and recording videos.
Officials said that police received multiple calls of gun firing around 10 am (1700 GMT), which triggered and immediate search operation to be performed by LAPD and campus police.
A student of Bio-engineering Bahjat Alirani said police were shouting at the people to run from the spot.
Alirani told, “I was in Boelter Hall to take a final and I exit the staircase to see SWAT-looking police yelling at everyone to evacuate immediately.”
Erica Roberts from Rockville, Maryland and a students of economics in her sophomore year, said she took shelter inside the student health center about 10 minutes after she had arrived for work there.
She added further in a telephonic interview, “Everyone is really on edge and contacting loved ones to let them know we are safe. I'm trying to stay in contact with all my friends on campus to make sure they are OK. Everyone is just terrified.”
By Prajakt K.
