On December 6, 2023, a mass shooting occurred at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV), killing three people and wounding three others, including two police officers. The perpetrator was killed in a shootout with police. It is described as the deadliest school shooting in Nevada history. The shooting took place in the Frank and Estella Beam Hall, UNLV's primary building for the Lee Business School, located about three miles from the Mandalay Bay casino, site of a 2017 mass shooting.
According to the timeline of events, the perpetrator, Anthony "Tony" Polito, arrived on campus around 11:30 a.m. PST armed with a legally purchased Taurus 9mm handgun and 11 loaded magazines. Fifteen minutes later, police received a call reporting a shooter in Beam Hall, and officers entered the building about a minute after the first 911 call. The shooter reportedly began on the fourth floor and moved down through several other floors. A witness described confusion after an alarm sounded, followed by evacuation after someone screamed there was a gun. UNLV posted warnings on social media for students to evacuate, and additional gunshots were later reported at the Student Union building. Around 11:55 a.m., Polito exited the building and was killed in a shootout with police, having been shot six times. An autopsy found erectile dysfunction medication and oxycodone in his system.
Three faculty members were killed: Patricia Navarro-Velez, a 39-year-old Accounting Professor; Cha Jan (Jerry) Chang, a 64-year-old MIS Professor, both of the Lee Business School; and Naoko Takemaru, a 69-year-old associate professor of Japanese Studies in UNLV's College of Liberal Arts. A wounded 38-year-old visiting professor, later identified as Professor Bot Rith, sustained critical, initially life-threatening injuries. Two police officers sustained minor wounds during the shootout, and additional individuals were treated for panic attacks.
Polito, born around 1956 and raised in North Carolina, had previously been a tenured associate professor of business at East Carolina University from 2001 to 2017 and later an adjunct professor at Roseman University of Health Sciences in Henderson, Nevada, from 2018 to 2022. His applications for professorships at various Nevada schools, including UNLV, had been unsuccessful. He maintained a "target list" of individuals, including former East Carolina University colleagues, though police confirmed none of the shooting victims were on this list. Former students described him as fixating on negative reviews on Rate My Professors. He was reportedly active online, expressing interest in conspiracy theories, and was a member of Mensa International.
The FBI, ATF, Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, University Police Services, and U.S. Marshals Service investigated the shooting. Searches of Polito's apartment found ammunition and an eviction notice. Investigators identified about two dozen letters mailed by Polito to university personnel nationwide shortly before the shooting, some containing harmless white powder such as talc.
In the aftermath, UNLV canceled classes and finals for the remainder of the semester, established a reunification center, and various public figures and organizations, including the White House, Nevada senators, sports teams, and faculty associations, issued statements of condolence and calls for gun reform.
Credit: AP Photo/Frank Wiese (15 Aug 1996), as distributed in a KATV / Sinclair news galleryEditorial useSourceSOLVEDListen
