Shooting at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas Leaves 3 dead (Update)

AP Photo/Lucas Peltier

This happened around noon local time on the University of Nevada campus in Las Vegas. At least three people have been killed.

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Some reactions from people at the scene.

Professor Kevaney Martin took cover under a desk in her classroom, where another faculty member and three students took shelter with her.

“It was terrifying, I can’t even begin to explain,” Matin said. “I was trying to hold it together for my students, and trying not to cry, but the emotions are something I never want to experience again.”…

Students and the community were alerted to the emergency by a university post on X that warned: “This is not a test. RUN-HIDE-FIGHT.”…

Student Matthew Felsenfeld said he and about 12 classmates barricaded their door in a building near the student union.

“It’s the moment you call your parents and tell them you love them,” said Felsenfeld, a 21-year-old journalism student.

Police quickly engaged the shooter and killed him.

The suspect in the UNLV shootings died in a shootout with police, University Police Chief Adam Garcia said at a news conference.

Garcia said university police responded to calls of shots fired on campus at about 11:45 a.m. local time. Two university police detectives responded and “immediately engaged the suspect in a shootout.”

Las Vegas Sheriff Kevin McMahill said this would have been much worse if not for the quick reaction of police.

Students were gathered just outside Beam Hall “playing games and eating food” at the time of the shooting, McMahill said. There were tables set up outside for them to “build Legos.”

“If it hadn’t been for the heroic actions of one of those police officers who responded, there could have been countless additional lives taken,” McMahill said, adding that “armed confrontation of the suspect by law enforcement stopped the suspect’s further actions.”

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One UNLV student expressed gratitude for how police responded.

So who was the shooter? CNN reports he was an older man who was a former professor:

The suspect in the UNLV shooting is a 67-year-old career college professor, a law enforcement source told CNN.

The suspect has connections with schools in Georgia and North Carolina, but it is unknown what connection the suspect had with the school where Wednesday’s fatal shooting took place.

So police do know his name but they aren’t releasing that information until next of kin are notified. I’ve checked and it doesn’t appear to have leaked online anywhere yet.

As for the victims, police haven’t revealed much information about them either. I’ll update this post in a few hours if there’s new information. Here’s the most recent briefing from police.

Update: Police have identified the suspect.

The gunman who opened fire Wednesday on the campus of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas killing three people and wounding a fourth had applied for a job at the school but was not hired, according to two senior law enforcement officials briefed on the case.

The officials identified the man as Anthony Polito, 67, who was shot dead by police following a confrontation outside the university. Law enforcement officials said he did not apply for the job at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas recently, and a specific motive for the shooting is unclear.

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He had a Ph.D. and taught business classes. Hard to imagine how someone goes from that to a mass shooting.

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