UNLV cancels finals after campus shooting

It’s unclear how many shots Anthony Polito fired, but the sheriff said he brought more than 150 rounds of ammunition with him.

Given that number of rounds, Clark County Sheriff Kevin McMahill said Polito may have intended to fire on the student union next to the business school, where students were gathered, eating and playing games.

Polito also was carrying what McMahill described as a “target list” of faculty members both from UNLV and from East Carolina University in North Carolina, where Polito taught at the business school from 2001 to 2017.

He resigned from East Carolina as a tenured associate professor, the university said.

Gunman Anthony Polito’s employment record at East Carolina did not include any disciplinary actions or red flags, according to a law enforcement official with direct knowledge of the investigation.

He had lived in the Las Vegas area since at least 2018.

Roseman University of Health Sciences in Henderson, Nevada, said Polito had an adjunct faculty contract and taught two courses in the school’s Master of Business Administration programme from October 2018 to June 2022. He left when the programme was discontinued, said Jason Roth, a school spokesperson.

A former student at East Carolina, Paul Whittington, said Polito often talked about his regular trips to Las Vegas. He also seemed obsessive about anonymous student reviews, Mr Whittington said.

“He always talked about the negative feedback he got,” said Mr Whittington, now 33, who took an introductory course in operations management with Polito in 2014.

“He didn’t get a lot of it, but there would always be one student every semester, or at least one student every class, that would give a negative review.”

The third victim killed in Wednesday’s shooting at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas has been named.

Dr Naoko Takemaru, an associate professor in the Department of World Languages and Cultures, was identified after her next of kin were informed by the coroner’s office, UNLV president Keith Whitfield said in a statement.

“With sadness, I write to you to mourn the tragic passing of Dr Naoko Takemaru, who this morning was confirmed to be among the three UNLV faculty members who lost their lives during Wednesday’s shooting,” Mr Whitfield said on Friday.

“Earlier today, the coroner’s office shared Dr Takemaru’s name following the notification of her next of kin.”

My colleague Mike Bedigan has more:

The gunman who killed three people in a shooting spree at the University of Nevada’s Las Vegas campus on Wednesday had an “obsession” with Sin City and was considered “eccentric” by his students.

Martha McHardy has the full story.

While authorities reassured the commmuntity that there was ‘no further threat,’ many questions still remain, largely to do with the shooter and their motive. Mike Bedigan looks at what we know so far:

Police have released footage of UNLV shooter Anthony Polito after his deadly rampage on the university on Wednesday.

The video shows the gunman being taken down by officers just outside the campus where he is believed to have killed three faculty members and injured another on Wednesday.

A woman who police say they believe to be a professor is also seen in the footage running away from the suspect.

Anthony Polito, 67, was named by police as the suspect in the shooting which ended with his own death.

My colleague Martha McHardy has more:

A woman who was taught by the UNLV shooter Anthony Polito said she “felt preyed” on while taking a course taught by the college professor during her senior year in 2012.

The woman, who asked not to be identified, told NBC that what began as a mentor-mentee relationship escalated into his pursuing her in a way that made her uncomfortable.

“I initially brought my résumé and my cover letters and stuff, like, just for him to review, but it just slowly became apparent that it was not as innocent,” she told the outlet.

The woman said Polito would try to have contact with her every day for nearly the entire semester, through emails and texting. She added that Polito also bought her gifts and eventually invited her to Las Vegas.

“I think that’s about when I was like ‘I have to cut this man off because he got the wrong idea,’” she said, noting that she was in her early 20s and that Polito not only was her professor but also much older than her.

“I felt preyed upon,” she said.

The woman told NBC that Polito never touched her inapproprately or acted out after she ended communication with him, and had never thought to report him because he was well-respected on campus.

“It was just so bizarre,” she said, adding that she was surprised that Polito had been accussed of Wednesday’s shooting.

All in-person, on campus final exams at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas have been cancelled, president Keith Whitfield has announced.

Prior to Wednesday’s tragic events, the exams had been scheduled to take place next week.

“We are providing flexibility for faculty and instructors – as well as students – to bring this semester to a positive end,” a statement from Mr Whitfield read.

Students will end the semester with the grade they have earned based on work completed before December 6, though some faculty may opt to offer an optional online final exam or take-home project before December 18, allowing students an opportunity to improve their grade.

UNLV gunman Anthony Polito was “struggling financially” before the shooting in which he is believed to have killed three faculty members and injured another, police said.

Anthony Polito, 67, was named by police as the suspect on Thursday in the shooting which ended with his own death.

Law enforcement sources said Polito had unsuccessfully applied for a college professorship at UNLV sometime prior to embarking on the deadly rampage.

Meanwhile, Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department chief Kevin McMahill added that Polito was “struggling financially” at the time before the shooting, as evidenced by an eviction notice taped to his door when authorities executed a search warrant.