A gunman opened fire on the University of Nevada, Las Vegas campus on Wednesday, leaving three people dead and a fourth wounded. The shooter, a 67-year-old career college professor with connections to colleges in Georgia and North Carolina, engaged campus police outside Beam Hall, the home of the university’s Lee Business School.
Las Vegas Metro Sheriff Kevin McMahill said at a news conference that the suspect, who has not been named, will not be identified until his family has been notified. The sheriff commended campus police for their quick response and called the shooting a “heinous, unforgivable crime.”
In addition to the four victims who were shot, four others were taken to hospitals due to panic attacks. Two law enforcement officers were treated for minor injuries suffered during the search for victims.
The wounded victim’s condition, initially listed as critical, has been upgraded to stable. Police are working to identify a motive and gather evidence, but no details about the suspect’s weapon have been revealed.
This is the 80th school shooting in the United States this year and the first to occur in Las Vegas since the Route 91 Harvest music festival shooting in 2017. UNLV is located just miles from the site of that mass shooting, which left at least 58 people dead and hundreds more injured.
UNLV president Keith Whitfield expressed shock and grief following the shooting, saying the campus community is devastated. Students and faculty described the terrifying moments when they heard the gunfire and witnessed the chaos on campus. Some of them were sheltering in place for hours before the order was lifted around 7:30 p.m.
Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn G. Goodman and the White House expressed their condolences and offered prayers for those affected by the shooting. The White House said it was monitoring the situation closely, with the second gentleman scheduled to deliver remarks at the Newtown Action Alliance Foundation’s National Vigil for All Victims of Gun Violence.
The investigation into the shooting is ongoing, and this story will continue to be updated as more information becomes available.