UNLV gunman was a professor who applied to work at the university, reports say: Live updates

The gunman who killed three people Wednesday on the campus of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, before dying in a shootout with police was a college professor who had previously applied for a job at the university, according to the Associated Press.

The shooter, who has not been named by police, formerly worked at East Carolina University in North Carolina and had unsuccessfully tried to get a job at UNLV before he carried out the deadly rampage, the AP reported, citing a source familiar with the investigation. The source identified the suspect as 67-year-old Anthony Polito.

The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department did not immediately return a request for comment to USA TODAY.

Who was Anthony Polito?

Polito was hired by East Carolina University in 2001 as an assistant professor in the department of marketing and supply chain management in the business college. He resigned in January 2017 as a tenured associate professor, Jeannine Manning Hutson, a spokesperson for the university, told USA TODAY. Polito described himself online as "semi-retired."

Greg Trevor, a spokesperson for the University of Georgia, confirmed to USA TODAY that Polito graduated from the institution with a Ph.D. in 2002. He received a master’s degree from Duke University’s business school in 1991, said Steve Hartsoe, a university spokesperson.

Polito operated a website in which he wrote about his academic endeavors, his favorite movies and “theories” on various mysteries, including the Zodiac serial killer and a Malaysia Airlines plane that disappeared in 2014.

Investigators searched an apartment in Henderson, Nevada, late Wednesday as part of the investigation into the shooting, AP reported. Several electronic devices, including Polito’s cellphone, were obtained.

'Some of us cried': Students hide, run from rampage

Alexis Rice was in a statistics lab next to a library at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, when she and her classmates received an alert. Rice said the group of about eight women locked and barricaded the classroom door and shut off the lights.

"We all hid far from the door under desks," Rice, 22, a PhD psychology student, told USA TODAY. "Some of us cried, were shaking, held hands, and texting our loved ones. With every sound we were hearing we were flinching."

Rice was one of numerous students who took cover as police swarmed onto the UNLV campus after a shooter sprayed bullets into crowds at two campus buildings during the lunchtime assault. Here are some of their stories.

− Trevor Hughes, Will Carless and Thao Nguyen

National Rodeo Finals cancels Thursday event

The first night of the National Rodeo Finals, scheduled for Thursday, was canceled because of the shooting. The rodeo was to open at the Thomas & Mack Center on the UNLV campus and run through Dec. 16. Further scheduling decisions were expected to be made Thursday, according to Las Vegas Events and the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association. The event has been sold out for months at the venue, which has a seating capacity of almost 20,000.

“Today’s shooting on the UNLV campus was alarming and deeply troubling,” said association CEO Tom Glause in a statement that thanked first responders for their response to the tragedy. "Our thoughts right now are focused on the victims of this senseless act of violence.”

What happened at UNLV?

The shooter opened fire around 11:45 a.m. on the fourth floor of the university's Frank and Estella Beam Hall, which is home to the Lee Business School, then moved downstairs and outside, UNLV Police Chief Adam Garcia in a news conference late Wednesday.

Two campus police officers confronted the shooter before he could fire at students playing games and eating outside the student union, Garcia said. The gunman was killed in a firefight with the officers. Authorities gave the all-clear about 40 minutes after the first report of an active shooter.

In addition to the three people who were killed, a fourth person was taken to a hospital with critical injuries and was listed in stable condition late Wednesday, authorities said. Four other people were treated for panic attacks.

Students, faculty and staff sheltered amid shooting

The gunfire sent people racing to hide, and many campus community members spent hours crying and sheltering in locked offices, classrooms and the Lied Library until police gave the all-clear. University administrators canceled classes for the rest of the week and were still deciding how to handle final exams scheduled to start Monday.

Ben Robinson, a UNLV law student, told USA TODAY he was sheltering at the university's Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints building where he was studying for finals.

"I was alerted that there was a shooting when a girl came in the building having just ran from the shooting," he said. "She was in shock."

Grim reminder of Route 91 Harvest music festival mass shooting

For many, Wednesday's shooting surfaced memories of the horrific Oct. 1, 2017, mass shooting at the Route 91 Harvest music festival, where a lone gunman killed 60 people – the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history. Authorities said that while the UNLV attack was a grim reminder of the Route 91 shooting, lessons learned from that incident improved teamwork and cooperation among first responders Wednesday.

Thousands of Americans died in mass killings since 2006

A database kept by USA TODAY in partnership with the Associated Press and Northeastern University includes public U.S. mass shootings in which at least four people are killed, not including the shooter. By that measure, 2,989 victims have lost their lives in 574 mass killings since 2006. The 42 such incidents this year have killed 217 victims.

The Gun Violence Archive maintains a database of incidents in which at least four people – excluding the perpetrator – were killed or injured. By that count, there have been 632 mass shootings in the United States this year. In 2022, there were 647 mass shootings, according to the archive. Five years ago in 2018, there were 336 mass shootings, the archive's data shows.