The suspect in Wednesday’s deadly shooting at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, was armed with more than 150 rounds of ammunition and used a handgun he legally purchased last year, authorities said Thursday.
The suspect — a former college professor identified by Las Vegas police as Anthony Polito, 67 — was killed in a shootout with responding officers about 10 minutes after shots were first reported at UNLV’s Beam Hall, Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department Sheriff Kevin McMahill said at a media briefing.
Las Vegas police stand near the scene of a shooting at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, on Dec. 7, 2023, in Las Vegas.
John Locher/AP
The suspect, who was pronounced dead at the scene, had pulled up to the campus with 11 magazines, and nine loaded magazines were found on his person, McMahill said. It is unclear how many rounds were fired, McMahill said. The suspect had a Taurus 9 mm handgun that was legally purchased last year, the sheriff said.
A motive remains under investigation. He is believed to have acted alone, McMahill said.
The sheriff said he believes the suspect was heading to the nearby student union before he was confronted by officers outside Beam Hall.
“I believe we averted a much larger tragedy by the actions of that heroic police officer,” McMahill said.
The suspect lived in Henderson, Nevada, and previously worked as an assistant professor at East Carolina University. He had applied for jobs with several institutions of higher education in Nevada and “was denied each time,” McMahill said.
He had applied for a college professorship at UNLV, but was not hired, sources told ABC News.
He was struggling financially and a notice of eviction was taped to his front door, McMahill said.
Prior to the shooting rampage, the suspect visited a post office in Henderson and sent 22 letters to university personnel across the U.S. with no return address, according to McMahill. All recipients are believed to have been contacted, he said.
The contents of the letters are unclear. Some of the letters have been intercepted, one of which contained an unknown white powder substance, McMahill said.
“What we’re asking is that if anybody in the education world receives a letter with no return address that is taped, we ask you to proceed with caution and contact your local authorities,” he said.
While executing a search warrant at the suspect’s home, authorities found a chair with an arrow pointing down to a document that was “similar to a last will and testament,” McMahill said.
During the investigation, authorities also determined that Polito had a list of people “he was seeking” at UNLV and faculty from East Carolina University, McMahill said. None of the individuals listed on the target list were victims in the shooting, he said.
“We have contacted almost everyone on those lists to make sure that they are all right,” McMahill said.
Investigators are looking into the suspect’s past employment. They are also scrubbing the suspect’s social media, devices and computers they seized, but right now there were no warning signs from friends or family prior to the incident, authorities said.
Three people — all staff members — were killed in the shooting, authorities said. A fourth shooting victim — a 38-year-old visiting professor — remains hospitalized in life-threatening condition, McMahill said.
Two of the deceased victims were identified by authorities Thursday: Cha Jan Chang, 64, who was known as “Jerry,” was a UNLV business professor, and Patricia Navarro Velez, 39, was an assistant professor in accounting at UNLV.
The third deceased victim has not been publicly identified pending family notification.
Source: abc news
