Professor killed, shooter dead at UCLA campus murder-suicide; LAPD, FBI, ATF aid investigation

LOS ANGELES, June 1 (UPI) -- Two men were shot dead on the campus of the University of California, Los Angeles, on Wednesday, in what appears to be a murder-suicide that drew a massive emergency response from local police and agents of the federal government.

The Los Angeles Police Department confirmed the deaths Wednesday morning near the Westwood campus' Engineering IV building, also known as Boelter Hall. Police said in a statement that both victims are male, but neither their identities nor ages were immediately released.

The LAPD stated earlier that no suspect had been taken into custody and an "active shooter investigation" was being conducted. Later, though, the department said the men died in a murder-suicide after it was determined the gunman was one of the dead.

LAPD Chief Charlie Beck said the men were killed in a small office in a building in Engineering IV. It wasn't immediately known whether they were students, employees or visitors to the campus.

A motive for the shooting is under investigation, but a handgun and possible suicide note were found near the bodies.

"There is a note. I don't know if it's a suicide note. I don't know if it's a confession. I don't know what it is," the LAPD chief told reporters.

Video: CNN

"We have an active search to make sure there are no further victims, that no one else is in harm's way" Beck added. "We will continue to go until we are sure that this campus is safe, and if there is an outstanding suspect, we will have that person or persons in custody."

Detectives of the LAPD's robbery-homicide division were investigating the shooting.

The college was placed on lockdown around 10 a.m. local time, immediately after the shooting, and the campus alert system told students to go to a secure location. The order was lifted just after noon and classes were canceled for the rest of Wednesday.

"We get a lot of Bruin Alerts for small things," student Rafi Sands told the Los Angeles Times. "It took a while for everyone to realize this is serious."

Several students in Engineering IV took refuge in some of the classrooms there -- some improvising their own security measures -- while tactical officers searched for the shooter.

"As soon as I got off the staircase, I saw a SWAT-looking police officer and he was pointing a big gun and and said for everyone to run and get out of the area," UCLA senior Bahjat Alirani told NBC Los Angeles. "I look at my phone and see that the alert was saying 'shooting at Engineering 4.'"

Police ultimately said the "campus is safe" and that the incident had been "contained."

Video: ABC News

Aerial footage of the scene showed several students leaving the engineering building, walking toward officers with their hands raised above their heads.

The incident prompted a massive police response to the scene, which included LAPD patrolmen, bomb squad technicians and SWAT officers. Agents of the FBI and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives also responded to the university's campus in Westwood, approximately 15 miles west of downtown Los Angeles.

Police said hundreds of law enforcement officers responded, including police officers from UCLA, Santa Monica College as well as personnel from the Los Angeles Fire Department.

"We have a lot of resources here that we're dedicating to ensure the safety of the campus community," UCLA Police Chief James Herren said. "It is something that we have trained to do. So when our officers arrived on scene they immediately began putting teams together ... to help those who have been injured and also search teams to look for suspects who may [have been] in the area."

Also, the LAPD was placed on a city-wide tactical alert and sent hundreds of officers to the Westwood campus and surrounding neighborhoods.

This week was the final week of the spring quarter at the Los Angeles area campus.

"It just seems so pointless," student Nick Terry said. "Two days left of school and it's going to end on this note?"