Shooting at UCLA

[Cypher]

BREAKING NEWS

The events of this tragedy are still going on as I'm writing this post.

The suspect behind the shooting is said to be wearing all black and it's been reported 2 dead on the scene, but there haven't been any further details released.
The cops and SWAT team have stormed the campus and President Obama has now been briefed of this shooting while on Air Force One.

UPDATES
12:26 p.m.: This article updated with news that the lockdown had been lifted.
12:10 p.m.: This article was updated with confirmation of a murder-suicide and quotes from L.A. police Chief Charlie Beck.
11:55 a.m.: This article was updated with additional interviews with students.
11:25 a.m.: This article was updated with additional interviews from students.
11:10 a.m.: This article was updated with confirmation of the deaths of two victims.
10:51 a.m.: This article was updated with additional information from law enforcement officials.
10:41 a.m.: This article was updated with new details.

Quote

To people were killed in a shooting at UCLA on Wednesday morning, prompting a massive response from local and federal law enforcement, the LAPD confirmed. The campus was placed on lockdown just after 10 a.m. as police searched for the gunman, according to the university. People are being asked to shelter in place in an engineering building on campus, the university said.

The FBI and the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives were responding, the agencies said. The Los Angeles Police Department was placed on citywide tactical alert and sent hundreds of officers to the Westwood campus and surrounding neighborhoods around 10:30 a.m. The motive for the shooting was not immediately clear, law enforcement officials told The Times. The identities of the victims were not available. Helicopter news footage showed students walking out in a line with their hands above their heads as armed police officers scoured the campus. According to the Daily Bruin, the shooter was wearing a black jacket and black pants. The shooting left students hiding in classrooms, some securing doors with belts because they wouldn’t lock, as word of the gunfire spread across campus.

Graduate student Jason La, 33, was sitting in Boelter Hall taking a test about 9:40 a.m. when an officer walked in and told the class to lock the door and barricade it. About a minute later they were told to leave. Students began to move out of the building, then began running when an officer yelled at them to get away from the building, La said.

Sean Lynch, the son of a professor who works in the engineering building, was exchanging text messages with his father as the campus was placed on lockdown. Lynch said his father was in a colleague’s office and heard three gunshots, but did not see the shooter. Student Mehwish Khan, 21, said she ran to the Charles E. Young Research Library, where numerous other students were hiding Wednesday morning. At around 10:45 a.m., she said she and others had barricaded themselves in a restroom as they texted family and friends who were all giving different information about possible shooters. "We are getting messages from all over," she told a Times reporter in a text message. Asked how she was doing, Khan said, "Okay. Just scared. And scared for all of my friends." Many students only agreed to speak with reporters via text message because UCLA protocol asks students not to speak on their phones in the event of an active shooter, they said. Rafi Sands, vice president of UCLA’s student government, said he and about 30 other students used their belts to secure their classroom door after news of the shooter spread.

Sands, 20, of Oakland, said several different accounts of the shooting are funneling across campus through text messages and social media, and it took several minutes for the campus community to realize the seriousness of the situation. “We get a lot of Bruin Alerts for small things,” he said. “It took a while for everyone to realize this is serious.”

 

Edited June 1, 2016 by Cypher

[Tweener]

Damn.... This is seriously fucked up. I don't really know where this hatred comes from. I hope everyone is safe by now.

[jlnsgr]

This world.. it will never get any better as long as people won't be ready to change their way of living in the fear of others and won't get rid of this stupid amendment made ages ago in a complete different time and situation.

[Main Pop Girl]

This is really upsetting and sad.  I studied at UCLA for only a few months but I always felt very safe and protected there and I can imagine exactly how everyone must be responding by now. I hope everyone's okay.