Mass shooting at the University of Nevada. Beam Hall at Lee Business School was the scene of an active shooter on Wednesday. This prompted police to respond to additional shots at the Student Union building. The suspect, Anthony Polito, 67, a career college professor, was declared dead at 12:37 p.m.
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About the Shooting
At 11:53 a.m., UNLV reported the incident on X, saying, “University Police responding to report of shots fired in BEH evacuate to a safe area, RUN-HIDE-FIGHT.”
University Police were responding to a confirmed active shooter situation in BEH, according to a second post at 11:59 a.m.
This latest mass shooting comes as students are in the middle of a study week before taking final exams and going on winter break, in the same city that suffered the worst mass shooting in modern US history in 2017.
The Victims
There were three fatalities and one critically injured in the shooting at UNLV, with the suspect also dead.
Sunrise Hospital is treating three victims from a shooting incident, activating its mass casualty protocol. One person was initially critical but later stabilized, according to Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department Sheriff Kevin McMahill.
During the search for victims, two law enforcement officers received minor injuries.
The Suspect
Anthony Polito is a 67-year-old career college professor with connections to colleges in Georgia and North Carolina.
Police are working to uncover evidence and identify a motive, McMahill said. He added he didn’t have any details on the suspect’s weapon.
A Community Affected
The UNLV campus will be closed the rest of the week, according to university police. In addition, UNLV and Dayton have cancelled their basketball game.
“What happened today is a heinous, unforgivable crime… 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,” said McMahill.
President Biden’s Response
In consoling the shooting at UNLV, President Joe Biden called for assault weapon bans and high-capacity magazines. Local officials expressed dismay over the incident.
School Shootings Across the US
The UNLV shooting has triggered 80 US school shootings this year. 51 of those school shooting occurred on K-12 campuses and 29 on university and college campuses.
There will be a week-long closure of the UNLV campus, which is close to the Route 91 Harvest music festival shooting site that left 58 dead and hundreds injured.
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