The University of Nevada, Las Vegas was the site of a tragic shooting on Wednesday, where three faculty members were killed by a former professor, Anthony Polito. The 67-year-old Polito, who also injured a visiting professor, was living in a Las Vegas suburb and was subsequently killed by police during a shootout following the rampage.
The gunman had previously taught at the business school at East Carolina University until 2017. He was reportedly in financial trouble, and a notice of eviction was found on his front door when authorities arrived at his apartment on Wednesday.
The shooting has sent shockwaves through the campus of one of Nevada’s largest colleges, just east of the Las Vegas Strip. Students on campus were preparing for final exams the following week when the shooting occurred.
Authorities reported that Polito had sent 22 letters to employees at universities across the country shortly before the shooting. One of the letters contained an unknown white powder, later determined to be harmless. The contents of the other letters were not clear.
Sheriff Kevin McMahill of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department stated that Polito used a 9-millimeter handgun in the attack and had brought 11 magazines with him, two of which had been emptied by the time he was killed.
One of the victims was identified as Patricia Navarro Velez, 39, an assistant professor of accounting. The second victim was Cha Jan Chang, 64, a professor of management information systems. The identity of the third faculty member has not been released pending notification of their family.
The tragedy has deeply affected the campus community, already haunted by the memory of the 2017 attack at a country music concert in Las Vegas that left 60 people dead and hundreds more injured.
In a statement, U.N.L.V.’s president, Keith E. Whitfield, called the shooting “the realization of our greatest fear.” He also resisted the idea of closing off the campus but expressed support for adding more security cameras in the wake of the tragedy.