4 dead, including suspect, after University of Nevada Las Vegas shooting
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Police shot and killed a suspected shooter after the individual opened fire on the University of Nevada Las Vegas campus Wednesday, killing three and wounding another at the school where they reportedly sought work.
University police responded to reports of shots fired around 11:45 a.m. local time on the fourth floor of Beam Hall near the student union building, with campus authorities warning students to “RUN-HIDE-FIGHT.”
“This is not a test,” the emergency alert read.
UNLV police and LVMPD officers responded to the scene, officials said. Two campus detectives “immediately engaged the suspect in a shootout” outside the building, UNLV Police Chief Adam Garcia told reporters at a press conference Wednesday night.
“The suspect was struck and is deceased at this time,” Garcia said.
The suspected shooter is a 67-year-old career college professor who previously taught at East Carolina University in North Carolina, a law enforcement official told the Associated Press, adding that he had unsuccessfully sought a job at UNLV.
The alleged gunman was 67 and also had connections to universities in Georgia, law enforcement sources told CN
LVMPD Sheriff Kevin McMahill said police have confirmed the identity of the suspect, but are not releasing his name at this time.
He also declined to reveal the suspect’s affiliation with UNLV or what he was doing on campus.
Three victims were found dead and a fourth with gunshot wounds was taken to an area hospital, where they are recovering in stable condition, McMahill said.
Four others were hospitalized after suffering panic attacks and two officers were treated for minor injuries suffered while clearing buildings, he said.
The shooter’s motive remains under investigation.
The UNLV campus is about two miles from the Las Vegas Strip and across from Harry Reid International Airport.
Roughly 30,000 students attend the school.
The campus was placed on lockdown almost immediately after the shooting was reported. Police evacuated students and staff “floor by floor, room by room, building by building,” McMahill said.
UNLV officials asked students to remain sheltered in place as the buildings were evacuated one at a time.
One University of Nevada student told local outlet KVUU she hunkered down in the campus’s student union building after she learned about the active shooter alert.
“We found out cops were on site and we just sheltered in place until we were evacuated. And it took us about 30 minutes to get us evacuated,” said the student, Jessica.
Another student described how about 200 students huddled together in the building as they heard gunshots.
“A lot of people were panicking,” the student, who did not wish to be named, told the outlet.
She said armed officers evacuated them out of the building with their hands up. As they were escorted out of the student union, she said they “walked past one of the windows, the window was shot out, glass everywhere.”
A reunification center for those who had family members on campus has been established at the Las Vegas Convention Center, according to Clark County officials.
Officials said that in addition to UNLV, all other Nevada System of Higher Education institutions in the southern part of the state were shut down for the remainder of the day.
UNLV Police Chief Garcia said that the school’s campus would remain closed through Friday. The school could still be closed next week, when students are scheduled to take final exams, he said.
UNLV’s scheduled men’s basketball game against the University of Dayton has been canceled, the Ohio college’s basketball program announced on social media.
Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodman offered her “condolences on behalf of the entire city and the community,” at Wednesday night’s press conference.
“What a tragic time for us but it’s time to be positive and do something,” she added.
Nevada Gov. Joe Lombardo, the former Clark’s County Sheriff, praised law enforcement for their quick response.
The UNLV shooting and Tuesday’s two deadly shootings in Texas prompted President Biden to call on congressional Republicans to ban assault weapons.
“Jill and I join citizens across our nation in praying for the families of our fallen, and for those who were injured during these latest acts of senseless violence,” the president said.
“For all the action we have taken since I’ve been president, the epidemic of gun violence we face demands that we do even more. But we cannot do more without Congress,” Biden said.
There have been 80 school shootings so far this year, according to CNN, breaking last year’s record of 79 over the same period.
Of this year’s school shootings, 51 occurred on K-12 campuses while the other 29 were at colleges or universities.
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