Crews continue to battle a house fire Wednesday that spread to surrounding brush in Pala, California, burning 45 acres, Cal Fire confirmed.

As of  5:55 p.m. Wednesday, the fire was 45-percent contained and was not spreading.

According to Cal Fire, there were three injuries.

Seven outbuildings in the area, all owned by San Diego County, and the home where the fire started were burned.

Firefighters said they were unsure of what the outbuildings were used for but they had not been occupied since the 1980s.

According to Cal Fire, there were 125 firefighters working to put out any hot spots.

The fire sparked inside a home on 38850 Pala Temecula Rd., around 1:55 p.m. Tuesday and then spread to the surrounding brush, Cal Fire officials said.

Mandatory evacuations were ordered around 4 p.m. and lifted at 6:30 p.m. An evacuation shelter was set up at Great Oak High School on Deer Hallow Way in Temecula.

Pala Temecula Rd. between Pala Mission Rd., and Pechanga was closed off for everyone except for residents since Tuesday night.

It was reopened at approximately 11:55 a.m. Wednesday.

Firefighters said this brush fire is a reminder that of how dry the brush is around California.

Cal Fire Firefighter Isaac Sanchez said fires are sparking statewide, even this early on in the year and residents should begin making preparations.

“Now is the time to work on that escape plan. To get your important documents ready to go in the event there are evacuations like we did have yesterday,” Cal Fire Firefighter Isaac Sanchez said.

No other information was available.

alJohnathan Cruz, of Indianapolis, faces 17 charges including felony murder, robbery, intimidation and a criminal gang enhancement, Marion County prosecutor Terry Curry said Wednesday.

Cruz is accused of gunning down Billy Boyd and Jay Higgenbotham on May 12 and Jose Ruiz on May 16 after choosing his victims "100 percent at random," Curry said.

Prosecutors said Cruz bragged about going on a "purge" before the killings, in reference to the 2013 movie about a fictional 12-hour time period in which all crimes committed are legal.

"Just when you think you can't experience anything more inexplicable and shocking as we frequently do, you are then confronted with circumstances that almost leave you at a loss for words," Curry said in a news conference Wednesday.

Three pages of exhibits filed in court documents show social media posts and text messages from Cruz’s alias, "Sav Hunna," that include numerous racial slurs and photos in which he is seen flashing gang signs, according to NBC News.

In one of the text messages uncovered by NBC News, Cruz allegedly wrote to his girlfriend: "U Better go on Face book and watch da videos of me shootin people I Purge every night now Since im dieing someone else Has to Alot Of people [expletive] dat."

Officers with the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department found the first victim, Boyd, lying on a sidewalk May 12 with two gunshot wounds to the head, the Indianapolis Star reports. The next victim, Higgenbotham, was found dead on a sidewalk hours later. He had also been shot multiple times.

The body of the final victim, Jose Ruiz, was discovered May 15 in the driver's seat of a Pontiac, according to police.

The morning of the first two killings, Cruz’s mother texted him to ask what he was doing, The Indianapolis Star reports. Cruz allegedly responded by sending a screenshot of a news article covering his first two killings.

"Delete those after u read it," Cruz told his mother, according to the newspaper.

On May 14, Cruz met up with a teenage girl to whom he had been selling drugs, the Indy Star reports. The two got into an argument and Cruz pulled out a gun, threatening to kill her if she left. He later tried to make her watch a video that showed him shooting Higgenbotham, according to the newspaper.

Cruz was already was in jail on charges of criminal confinement, kidnapping and battery in connection with an alleged drug deal gone bad. The case is unrelated to the killings.

A message seeking comment was left for his public defender in that case.

You don’t have to be in San Diego for long to realize that “May Gray” is a real thing.

The yearly weather pattern during the months of May and June brings persistent cloud cover, especially in the mornings.

But has this year been especially gray and gloomy?

We reached out to the National Weather Service and found it wasn't just in our heads. The average days with mostly cloudy skies in May is 11. This year, we had 15 gloomy days.

The stats also show the number of partly cloudy days was also up to 16, compared to the average of 11 days, according to the National Weather Service.

If you're quick to blame El Nino for the excessive clouds, don't. Experts say El Niño would actually cause the opposite because the warmer water means the temperature change is not as great compared to land therefore not creating the overcast conditions.

Another unusual aspect of this past May was the rain. With .44 inches, San Diego saw nearly four times the precipitation that's average for the month (.12).

Zoo designers already use architectural elements to try to keep children from going over railings into exhibits, but the breach at the Cincinnati Zoo's gorilla enclosure over the weekend has prompted experts to look at whether changes are needed.

Today's designs leave 4 feet between a railing and a moat so that anyone falling from the railing will not land in the moat. Railings themselves sometimes have uneven pickets to make it difficult for anyone to sit on top of them.

"That 4-foot space, that’s come about over time because there have been so many incidents of parents setting a child on the railing," said Patrick Janikowski, a principal of PJA Architects, a Seattle-based firm specializing in zoo design.

"I don't want to say it’s designed for stupidity, but that's the reason that that is designed that way, as a secondary precaution against falling into the moat," he said.

The latest tragedy, in which a 17-year-old, 450-pound western lowland gorilla named Harambe was killed after a boy got into its enclosure, has driven the Cincinnati Zoo and zoo designers to consider changes in animal exhibits.

"Every time something likes this happens, there's a re-evaluation and a re-look to make sure each facility is up to speed," said Nevin Lash of Ursa International, an Atlanta-based design company.

"We're always trying to keep it exciting but safe," he said.

The 3-year-old boy climbed over a fence and fell more than 10 feet into the moat surrounding the gorillas’ enclosure over the weekend, NBC News reported. Harambe was shot after he grabbed the child, a decision zoo officials are defending in the face of outrage from animal rights groups and others. Zoo officials said the endangered gorilla was so large it could have hurt the child even without intending to.

The Cincinnati Zoo has insisted that the Gorilla World exhibit, the first "bar-less" outdoor gorilla habitat in the country when it opened in 1978, is safe. The zoo's director, Thane Maynard, told The Associated Press the breach was the first.

The Cincinnati enclosure is now the industry standard, its open design common in zoos across the country, with exhibits protected by a combination of glass, netting and moats, designers say.

For example, Zoo Atlanta, which has the nation's largest gorilla collection, has several outdoor viewing spots designed to give visitors the feeling of being close though they are separated by a series of safety barriers, the AP found.

The Smithsonian's National Zoo in Washington has an indoor area with glass walls and an outdoor habitat surrounded by barriers made of glass panes, metal and metal frames filled in with mesh. Metal railings and large planters also stand between the viewing area.

But gorillas at the Columbus Zoo are in two enclosed areas behind glass and mesh. The approach is an exception to the open enclosure in Cincinnati, a spokeswoman, Patty Peters, told the AP.

PJA Architects designs railings with vertical pickets of different lengths so parents cannot set their children on the top railing and adults cannot sit on them. Still a child likely could climb over it, Janikowski said.

"If they can grab the pickets and pull themselves up, if it's an energetic child," he said. "I would think that because they're vertical, they can't get a foothold anywhere except at the bottom rail. You can still get over it but I think it's a lot of effort. That's why we use it."

Janikowski said that the firm would review the design but doubted it would be changed.

"We think our railings have been tested over time," he said.

This was not the first time a child has gotten into an exhibit. A 5-year-old fell into a gorilla enclosure at the Jersey Zoo in the United Kingdom 30 years ago, knocking himself unconscious. A male gorilla, Jambo, stroked his back until zoo keepers were able to get to the boy.

Ten years later, another 3-year-old boy fell into the gorilla enclosure at the Brookfield Zoo near Chicago. That time a female gorilla, Binti Jua, picked the child up and carried him to safety.  

A 2-year-old boy fell into a cheetah exhibit at the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo in April 2015 after his mother allegedly dangled him over a railing. The parents rescued the child.

And another 2-year-old was killed by African dogs after, zoo officials charged, his mother lifted him up onto a 4-foot-tall wooden railing to get a better view. He fell into the exhibit and was attacked. The parents sued the zoo and later settled.

The zoos are inspected regularly by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Association of Zoos and Aquariums — on average once a year by the Department of Agriculture, though more frequently if there is a complaint, and every five years by the association for accreditation.

The federal Animal Welfare Act says zoos must have barriers in place between enclosures for gorillas and other primates and the public, but the specifics are performance-based, said a spokeswoman for the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Tanya Espinosa.

"That means that they are deemed to be adequate if they work, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which enforces the Animal Welfare Act, has broad discretion into how to administer them," she said.

The Cincinnati Zoo has been accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums without interruption since 1978, most recently in 2014, said a spokesman, Rob Vernon. Its standards are also performance-based, but if a state or municipality has regulations related to exhibiting animals, those also must be met, he said.

Its Accreditation Commission will first consider whatever changes the Cincinnati Zoo makes before deciding whether more needs to be done, he said. He said he did not know of an instance where a zoo made no changes after an accident.

The enclosure should now be looked at through “the lens of a 3-year-old," he said. 

Designers rely on the International Building Code, which specifies railing heights depending on the drop on the other side and other requirements. As zoos have evolved from cages for the animals, the animals have gotten healthier and stronger, Janikowski said. Enclosures have gotten larger, moats larger and heights of railings higher, he said.

Lash, with Atlanta-based Ursa International, said that some zoos were moving toward glass-enclosed viewing areas, which are extremely safe.

“But we also like to have the big open views,” he said. “You’re standing at the same level or even lower than the animals are and that requires these moats. And they’re very popular in design as long as it’s all safe. We work to make that happen because no one wants what happened the other day.”

German police are investigating the alleged assault of an Iraqi asylum seeker dragged out of a store and tied to a tree by a local “vigilante” group, NBC News reports.

A video showing the alleged incident that took place on May 21 near Dresden was circulated on social media, which prompted the investigation. 

Officers responded to a 911 call and found the Iraqi man zip-tied to a tree in the parking lot of a supermarket. According to a police statement, officers initially questioned three suspects, who were allowed to leave the scene after saying they “prevented a threat situation” following an altercation inside the supermarket. 

Police said in their statement Thursday that the suspects have been identified and are appealing to the public for information.

Solicitor General Donald Verrilli, the lawyer who successfully defended President Obama's health care law from repeated challenges before the U.S. Supreme Court, will step down later this month, the White House and the Justice Department announced Thursday.

"Thanks to his efforts, 20 million more Americans now know the security of quality, affordable health care," President Obama said, calling Verrilli "a dedicated public servant who has helped our nation live up to its promise of liberty and justice for all."

Verrilli will leave on June 24 after five years in the office, making him the seventh-longest serving Solicitor General, NBC News reported.

As many as 100 ISIS fighters who returned to Belgium from Syria may be planning terror attacks, according to a top Belgian official who spoke to NBC News. 

Deputy Prime Minister Jan Jambon said 300 fighters from Belgium have gone to Syria, and 200 have returned. He said half of those who returned could be used to counter the jihadi narrative among other recruits, and advise them from joining the terror group. 

There is concern that the other 100 could return with specific missions directed by ISIS, putting European officials are on high alert for any plots, Jambon said.

But Jambon pointed out that said he wasn’t aware of any imminent plot like the twin bombings that killed 32 people in Brussels in March. 

Host of NBC’s America’s Got Talent and former San Diego resident Nick Cannon was in town Wednesday, meeting with high school students and representatives from the National Action Network San Diego Chapter.

Cannon grew up in Lincoln Park.

On Wednesday, he joined the Civil Rights Activist Reverend Shane Harris and others representatives of the National Action Network at the Jacobs Center on Euclid Avenue.

About 100 people were present at the meeting.

Cannon spoke about the empowerment of youth in San Diego and putting an end to gun violence.

“My main focus is the youth, specifically young men because we're losing them so fast,” Cannon said.

He was also here representing the Nick Cannon Foundation which provides leadership development and community service to at-risk kids in San Diego.

“Change has to be implemented and has to begin with us in our own community and we have to take charge,” he said.

The latest work includes encouraging entrepreneurship and helping high school students develop business plans.

“10 years from now things will be different. It's not going to happen overnight but it's definitely going to happen and it's going to happen because of people in rooms like this. So let's continue to keep it going,” Cannon said.

He also visited students at Point Loma High School to talk about projects they had been working on, including 3-D printing and biomedical solutions.

After undergoing surgery to implant a pacemaker, Tasmanian devil "Nick” is back in his habitat at San Diego Zoo's Australian Outback section.

Nick was closely monitored by zoo veterinarians at an off-exhibit area for two weeks after his surgery – only the second to ever be performed on a Tasmanian devil.

During a routine health exam in January zoo veterinarians discovered Nick had an abnormal heart rhythm, cardiac conduction disorder, which causes his heart to beat very slowly.

Zoo veterinarians consulted with cardiologist Joao Orvalho, DVM —a Diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine, from the University of California, Davis—and determined the best way to improve the quality of Nick’s life was to surgically implant a pacemaker to regulate his heartbeat.

"Now the pacemaker is basically going to take over his heart and is going to determine when to play the pace fast or slow depending on his activity," Dr. Orvalho said. 

Cora Singleton, DVM, San Diego Zoo associate veterinarian, and her staff worked collaboratively with veterinary surgeon Fred Pike, DVM, a Diplomate, American College of Veterinary Surgeons on May 11 to perform the surgery.

"We have not done one of these before," Dr. Singleton said. "This type of heart disease has been documented in Tasmanian devils as they get older, but most facilities don't place a pacemaker, so we are the second in the United States to perform this procedure." 

Veterinarians usually place pacemakers in the neck, but because of the Tasmanian devil's neck shape vets placed it in the animal's abdomen and sutured the electrode to the heart, a slightly more complicated procedure. 

The surgery was successful with no complications and Nick was released the same day to recuperate at the zoo hospital.

“We are optimistic that this procedure will give Nick an additional one to two years of a happy and healthy life,” Dr. Singleton explained. “He will have a recheck exam to evaluate his pacemaker in three to six months, then annually thereafter.”

Tasmanian devils are listed as endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

They are native to the island state of Tasmania, which is part of Australia, and they can live up to seven years. 

Tasmanian devils face extinction in the wild due to devil facial tumor disease (DFTD), a rare, contagious cancer found only in devils. It is transmitted from one animal to another through biting, a common behavior among devils when mating and feeding.

The disease kills all infected devils within six to 12 months, and there is no known cure or vaccine.

All four Tasmanian devils at the San Diego Zoo are healthy, and the zoo is a partner of the Save the Tasmanian Devil Program, based in Tasmania.

The program collaborates with research institutes and zoos around the world to save the Tasmanian devil.

A random sampling of about 101,000 signatures backing the Citizens' Initiative did not have enough valid signatures to immediately head to the November ballot, Registrar Michael Vu confirmed Wednesday.

The Citizens' Initiative would raise taxes on hotel rooms and set aside 100 acres in Mission Valley for public use like parks, an education center and soccer stadium. It would also block any public money from going toward a downtown football stadium and prevent the expansion of the Convention Center along the water front.

Attorney Cory Briggs, who proposed the initiative, said he's confident the measure will be on the November ballot once Vu does a full count of all the signatures. He also took issue with the process being used to validate the initiative.

"It's all because the city is allowing the county to use a penalty system, but the penalty system isn't in the city rules," Briggs said.

The process the county uses for validating signature-driven ballot measures is a complex formula, Vu said. For every one duplicate found in the sample, nearly 1,100 signatures are thrown out of the total.

He said the system is set up like that to prevent signature gatherers from just signing the same name over and over.

Briggs said it's unnecessarily going to cost taxpayers and the city hundreds of thousands of dollars to validate all 66,477 signatures needed to move the measure to the November ballot to go before voters.

Typically, signature drives aim to collect 150 percent more names than required to avoid disqualification due to duplicates or invalid signatures.

"There should be zero duplicates. We paid some of the best people in the industry to remove the duplicates. So, not only is it difficult to believe there are seven duplicates in the entire 100,000 signatures, there shouldn't even be seven duplicates in the 3,300 sample that they 'randomly selected,'" Briggs said.

Firefighters gained the upper hand on a 45-acre brush fire that destroyed eight structures near Pala, California, Cal Fire confirmed Thursday.

As of 7 a.m. Thursday, the fire was 75 percent contained, fire officials said.

The fire sparked inside a home on Pala Temecula Road Tuesday afternoon and spread to the surrounding brush.

Seven outbuildings in the area, all owned by San Diego County, and the home where the fire started were burned.

Firefighters said the outbuildings had not been occupied for more than 20 years.

According to Cal Fire, there were three injuries.

Firefighters said this brush fire is a reminder that of how dry the brush is around California.

Cal Fire Firefighter Isaac Sanchez said fires are sparking statewide, even this early on in the year and residents should begin making preparations.

“Now is the time to work on that escape plan. To get your important documents ready to go in the event there are evacuations like we did have yesterday,” Cal Fire Firefighter Isaac Sanchez said.

A man described as a local surfer suffered a medical emergency Thursday and needed to be rescued in the water along Cardiff State Beach.

Surfer Trevor Salter was sipping coffee before getting into the water at 9:45 a.m. when he noticed a surfer go down into the water in the area of Tower 15.

“He stayed face down for about 10 seconds,” Salter said when he decided to grab his own board and run into the surf.

Two lifeguards from LA County were already on scene.

Together, the group tried to stay centered on a surfboard while doing CPR. They were able to ride a wave to the beach where they were met by emergency personnel.

Lifeguards with the state and the City of Encinitas rushed to the beach along the South Coast Highway. Encinitas firefighters arrived as well.

“We fought our way to the beach with 13, 14 other lovely surfers helping out, ” Salter said adding how great it was to see everyone in the area stop surfing and jump in to help.

Firefighters said the man had suffered a cardiac arrest in the water. An ambulance transported the victim to Scripps Encinitas.

His identity was not released however Salter described the man as a regular surfer at the beach.

In honor of the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death, The San Diego Central Library will exhibit First Folio! The Book that Gave Us Shakespeare during the month of June, the only California stop on the books' national tour.

The First Folio, one of several touring the country, contains 36 of Shakespeare’s plays. It will be on display from Saturday, June 4, until Thursday, July 7.

On loan from the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, DC, The exhibition exclusively features First Folios from the Folger, whose collection of 82 First Folios is by far the largest in the world. The exhibition will bring the First Folio to all 50 states, Washington, DC and Puerto Rico.

Published in 1623, the book will be available for viewing and open to the page with “To be or not to be” from Hamlet. A multi-panel exhibit exploring the significance of the Folio will accompany the book.

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There will also be a display of props, costumes and photographs showcasing The Old Globe Theatre's eight decades of presenting Shakespeare’s works.

The Folio will be located in the Art Gallery on the ninth floor of the library. The exhibition is free and open to the public, but tickets are recommended.

The Old Globe and the library will also have free Shakespeare-related programs such as A Day at Court, featuring jugglers, dancing, music and crafts and Thinking Shakespeare Live!, a 90-minute exploration of the language of Shakespeare as well as others events throughout the summer.

A train fatally hit a pedestrian in Carlsbad Thursday morning, the San Diego Sheriff's Department (SDSO) confirmed. 

The train struck the pedestrian just after 11 a.m. in the 7000 block of Carlsbad Boulevard. 

All train service in Carlsbad is delayed up to two hours according to a Tweet from North County Transit. 

No other information was immediately available.

Check back for updates on this breaking news story. 

A new app, introduced by Mayor Kevin Faulconer on Thursday, allows people to request street repairs and neighborhood services faster.

The pilot project, Get it Done San Diego, is available for iPhone and Android users and also lets users track the progress of a complaint.

Residents can download the app or go to the website to upload photos of the problem, identify a few details about the service needed and click submit.

The app uses GPS information embedded within photos to automatically update the address and location of problems by linking reports to a work order system.

“Our city government should be just as innovative as people we serve and it has always been our goal to improve customer service,” Mayor Faulconer said on Thursday. “If we have mobile apps that can check email, check the weather and check in our flights, we should have a mobile app that helps residents check on street repairs.”

The app eliminates the need to call the City to report problems and allows people to report anonymously. Residents can track the status of projects in real time and the GPS tracking links the user to City crews.

The system connects all reports about the same problem into one group and creates a single report so that every individual is notified about the progress of the issue.

NBC 7 has obtained from San Diego Police Department (SDPD) a list of  those arrested at the Donald Trump Rally held at the convention center last week.

A total of 33 people were arrested.

The original number reported  was 35 but police say now one suspect used two different last names and another was referred to psychiatric services instead of being charged.

Twenty-eight were arrested on a misdemeanor charge of failure to disperse, two had warrants for their arrest, one faces misdemeanor assault and battery charges, and two resisting arrest charges.

The person facing assault and battery is  the youngest among those arrested; just 16 years old. 

A total of five juveniles were arrested at the rally.

The oldest is 62-year-old Thomas Wycinsky. He is charged with failing to disperse. The maximum penalty on such misdemeanor charges is up to six months in jail and up to a $2,000 fine.

Nearly half the arrests occurred in the Barrio Logan area.

The addresses of those arrested were not released. So it’s unclear whether  they are local.

Boxing great Muhammad Ali has been hospitalized and is being treated for a respiratory issue, a family spokesperson said in a statement Thursday. 

Spokesman Bob Gunnell said the three-time world heavyweight champion, who has Parkinsons disease, "is being treated by his team of doctors and is in fair condition."

Gunnell added that "a brief hospital stay is expected" and that Ali's family has requested privacy.

Ali was hospitalized in December 2014 with what was initially believed to be a mild case of pneumonia. But Gunnell said doctors later determined that Ali was suffering from a severe urinary tract infection and not pneumonia. He was released from hospital in January 2015. 

Though he hasn't made many public appearances in recent years, Ali took a jab at "so called Islamic Jihadists" and those who would "use Islam to advance their own personal agenda" in December 2015 after Donald Trump proposed a ban on Muslim immigration to the United States. 

"I am a Muslim and there is nothing Islamic about killing innocent people in Paris, San Bernardino, or anywhere else in the world," the peace activist told NBC News in a statement. "True Muslims know that the ruthless violence of so called Islamic Jihadists goes against the very tenets of our religion."

Ali's statement came three days after Trump tweeted that he couldn't recall any great American Muslim athletes — even though he's met Ali several times, NBC News reported. 

A heatwave begins Thursday in San Diego as inland valleys, mountains and deserts can expect temperatures well above average for this time of the year.

The National Weather Service has issued excessive heat warnings for multiple areas throughout the state that will last through Sunday.

Triple-digit temperatures were expected in the deserts east of San Diego with temperatures in the 90s in the mountain areas.

“We’re seeing temperatures of 110 to 116 in our desert cities. That is dangerous heat to be outside in so you want to limit your outside activity,” NBC 7’s Meteorologist Jodi Kodesh said.

Kodesh said the hottest days will be Friday and Saturday.

Heat records will likely be broken in San Diego county mountains and deserts.

Borrego Springs is forecast to reach 116 degrees on Friday. It should break a record of 113 that was set in 2006.

Palomar Mountain is forecast to reach 92 Friday, possibly breaking the record of 89 degrees that was set in 1970.

Cal/OSHA has issued a statewide high heat advisory for employers reminding them to protect workers from heat illness and exhaustion.

“Water, rest, shade and increased vigilance are absolutely essential in high heat conditions,” Cal/OSHA Chief Juliann Sum said in a written news release.

Under California law, employers with outdoor workers must provide enough fresh water so each employee can drink at least one quart, or four 8-ounce glasses, of water per hour, and encourage them to do so.

Employers must not only provide access to shade but encourage employees to take a cool-down rest in the shade for at least 5 minutes.

Online information on the heat illness prevention requirements and training materials can be obtained at Cal/OSHA’s Heat Illness web page or the Water. Rest. Shade. campaign site.

A Heat Illness Prevention e-tool is also available on Cal/OSHA’s website.

A former doctoral student who shot and killed a UCLA professor, leading to a daylong campus lockdown, made a "kill list" that included the names of the slain instructor, a woman found dead Thursday in Minnesota and a second professor, authorities said.

Police identified the gunman as Mainak Sarkar, 38, who apparently had a strained relationship with Professor William Klug. Sarkar believed Klug had stolen his computer code, law enforcement sources told NBC News.

Sarkar detailed his grievance in two blog posts about Klug, most recently on March 10, sources told NBC News. 

"William Klug, UCLA professor is not the kind of person when you think of a professor. He is a very sick person," Sarkar wrote, according to the sources. "I urge every new student coming to UCLA to stay away from this guy."

In the post, Sarkar identified himself as a former Ph.D. student of Klug's and said the two had "personal differences."

"He cleverly stole all my code and gave it to another student. He made me really sick," Sarkar allegedly wrote. "Your enemy is your enemy. But your friend can do a lot more harm. Be careful about whom you trust."

LAPD Chief Charlie Beck said in a news conference Thursday police believe the blog to be Sarkar's but have not been able to verify it.

Beck also said there is a "strong" connection between Sarkar and a gunshot victim found in Minnesota. Beck said information was recovered at the shooter's Minnesota residence that led authorities to believe Sarkar is linked to the woman's death.

The names of the deceased woman, Klug's and a third individual — another UCLA professor — were on a "kill list" found at the shooter's home, police said.

"It was a list that made the readers believe that it was a list of people that he was going to kill," Beck said. "And, she was on that list."

Investigators believe Sarkar had traveled to UCLA with the intent of killing both professors on the list. The second professor, whose name has not been released, was not on the campus at the time, Beck said.

"He was certainly prepared to engage multiple victims," Beck said of Sarkar, who was armed with two semiautomatic pistols, multiple magazines and several rounds of ammunition.

Police found a note near the bodies of Klug and Sarkar, which asked the reader to check on Sarkar's cat in Minneapolis, Beck said. Investigators searching his Minneapolis residence found the "kill list," which led them to the home of the female victim in neighboring Brooklyn Park.

The woman was found dead of a gunshot wound early Thursday. Police believe Sarkar killed her prior to the UCLA murder-suicide, then traveled to Los Angeles in a gray 2003 Nissan Sentra, according to Beck.

Police did not provide information about the relationship between the woman and Sarkar. 

The search continued Thursday for the Sentra, which has Minnesota license plates 720 KTW. The vehicle might contain evidence to help investigators establish a motive for the slayings, Beck said.

Sarkar is suspected of shooting and killing Klug — a 39-year-old father of two and associate professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering from El Segundo — in an engineering building at UCLA. Their bodies were found together in an office with a gun nearby, Beck said. 

The shooting led to a SWAT search and a daylong campus closure, with panicked students seeking a safe place to hide. No one else was hurt.

Police initially received reports of an active shooter on the Westwood campus, which has an undergraduate enrollment of around 43,000 students, prompting a campus-wide lockdown and massive law enforcement response.

About two hours later, students learned the shooting had been a murder-suicide and police said there was no threat to the campus.

"I'm just outraged," said Renjie Li, who took a class from Klug. "I'm mad that someone would do that to a young professor who just started his career at UCLA. It’s just a shame."

According to his biography on the UCLA website, Klug received his Ph.D. from Caltech in 2003, his master’s of science from UCLA in 1999 and his bachelor’s from Westmont College in 1998. Klug also led the Klug Research Group in Computational Biomechanics at UCLA.

Classes are scheduled to resume Thursday ahead of next week's final exams. A candlelight vigil is scheduled for Thursday night at UCLA.

The Los Angeles County coroner's office has not released information about the identity of the shooter.

Terrorist attacks and resulting fatalities dropped in 2015 for the first time since 2012, according to a U.S. State Department report on global terrorism, NBC News reported. 

The report, released Thursday, found the total number of attacks dropped 13 percent from 2014. Fatalities from attacks decreased 14 percent, despite high profile cases such as the ones in Paris last November. 

ISIS is reported as being the greatest worldwide terrorist threat. Al-Qaida, whose leadership has severely degraded since 2001, also continues to pose a threat. 

Iran, according to the report, remains the foremost state sponsor of terrorism. Syria and Sudan were also found to be state sponsors of terrorism. Cuba was dropped from that list for the first time since 1982.