'Kind' and 'brilliant' engineering professor killed at UCLA was a devoted father of 2 who coached Little League Baseball

An engineering professor was identified as a victim of the shooting that shut down the University of California at Los Angeles on Wednesday.

William S. Klug, 39, was an associate professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering.

The Los Angeles Police Department ruled his death a murder-suicide, according to Reuters.

The news shocked friends and colleagues, who described Klug as kind and brilliant.

"I am absolutely devastated," Alan Garfinkel, another professor at UCLA, told The Los Angeles Times. "You cannot ask for a nicer, gentler, sweeter, and more supportive guy than William Klug."

UCLA colleague Jim Gimzewski tearfully told The Associated Press that Klug was a "kind, gentle soul with a brilliant mind."

Klug was a married father of two, who leaves behind a son, 10, and daughter, 7. He was a devoted member of his El Segundo, California, community, where he coached his son's Little League Baseball team.

"Today there's a hole in the heart of El Segundo Little League," Peter Gianusso, president of the El Segundo Little League, told the AP. "They really can't believe it because Bill was one of the kindest, most lighthearted, quiet person that you'd ever meet."

Former students of Klug's were similarly distressed over the news of his death.

"I'm outraged," Renjie Li, a student of Klug's, told the AP. "When I took his class last year, I always went to his office hours and asked a bunch of questions, and he always answered with passion."

Klug earned a master's degree in civil engineering from UCLA and and a Ph.D. in mechanical engineering from Caltech.

UCLA held a vigil for Klug, and the El Segundo community held a memorial service on Wednesday night, according to local station KTLA.

A GoFundMe page with a goal of $100,000 was created on Wednesday.

"His family was the most important thing to him, and our goal is to make sure they are taken care of now and in the future," it reads.