University of Nevada shooter named as disgruntled professor rejected for job
The deceased suspect in the University of Nevada shooting that killed three has been named as Anthony Polito Jnr - a 67-year-old who applied for a professorship at the college - but was rejected.
Polito opened fire on the Las Vegas campus and killed three people before he was shot dead by cops on Wednesday morning. Investigators had been searching the suspect's apartment and working into the night to understand the motivation behind the killing.
The gunman in Wednesday’s shooting was a professor who had unsuccessfully sought a job at the school, according to reports.. He previously worked at East Carolina University in North Carolina.
READ MORE: UNLV students 'played games and ate food' before shooter killed three on campus
Three people were shot dead on campus (ALLISON DINNER/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock)The attack was the worst shooting in the city since October 2017, when a gunman killed 60 people and wounded more than 400 after opening fire from the window of a room at Mandalay Bay casino on the world-famous Las Vegas Strip only a couple miles from the UNLV campus.
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At about 11:45 a.m., the gunman opened fire on the fourth floor of the building that houses UNLV’s Lee Business School, then went to several other floors before he was killed in a shootout with two university police detectives outside the building, UNLV Police Chief Adam Garcia said.
Las Vegas Metro Police responded to the terrifying shooting (AP)It wasn’t immediately clear how many of the school’s 30,000 students were on campus at the time, but McMahill said students had been gathered outside the building to eat and play games. If police hadn’t killed the attacker, “it could have been countless additional lives taken,” he said.
“No student should have to fear pursuing their dreams on a college campus,” the sheriff said. Police didn’t immediately identify the victims, the attacker, or the motive and didn’t say what kind of weapon was used, although some witnesses reported hearing as many as 20 shots fired.
Law enforcement officers head into the University of Nevada (AP)Authorities gave the all-clear about 40 minutes after the first report of an active shooter. Three people were killed and a fourth was hospitalised in critical but stable condition, police said.
UNLV professor Kevaney Martin took cover under a desk in her classroom, where another faculty member and three students took shelter with her.
An active shooter was reported at the campus (Getty Images)“It was terrifying. I can’t even begin to explain,” Martin 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.”
Martin said she was texting friends and loved ones, hoping to receive word a suspect had been detained. When another professor came to the room and told everyone to evacuate, they joined dozens of others rushing out of the building. Martin had her students pile into her car and drove them off campus.
Staff and students were on lockdown (nbcnews)“Once we got away from UNLV, we parked and sat in silence,” she said. “Nobody said a word. We were in utter shock.” Selena Guevara said she got a phone call from her daughter, Markie Montoya, who was in class in the building and heard “gunshots, screaming and yelling” but wasn’t hurt. “She’s hysterical, telling me ‘I love you’ and so scared,’” Guevara said.
Crime Scene tape outside the Student Union building (ALLISON DINNER/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock)Another student, Jordan Eckermann, 25, said he was in his business law class in a second-floor classroom when he heard a loud bang and a piercing alarm went off, sending students to their feet. Some ran from the room in panic while others heeded their professor’s instructions to stay calm, said Eckermann.
He walked out and locked eyes with a law enforcement officer in a bulletproof vest holding a long gun. Clothing, backpacks and water bottles lay scattered on the floor.
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