A former student of the man who fatally shot three people at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas last week said he resigned from another university after making sexual comments to her.
Kristin Marshburn, 28, recalled the day in 2016 that Anthony Polito made a comment about her performance while she sat in the front row of his business class at East Carolina University in North Carolina.
“He told me if I wore that shirt that low-cut for the rest of the semester, I would definitely get an A,” Marshburn said. NBC News.
Marshburn said the “bold comment” was for her and about 35 other students, most of whom were men.
She reported the awkward comment to the business school dean later that day. In January 2017, Polito resigned as an associate professor at the university, where he had worked since 2001.
Kristin Marshburn, 28, revealed that the UNLV shooter, Anthony Polito, once made a sexual comment to her during his business class at East Carolina University in 2016
Marshburn remembered what Polito said to her as she sat in the front row of his classroom that day. “He told me that if I wore that shirt that low-cut for the rest of the semester, I would definitely get an A.”
It's not clear if Polito left the school because of the comment he made to Marshburn, but she said he never returned to class after she reported it.
The incident occurred when she was in her freshman year, when Marshburn recalled other students' faces “just being shocked” when they heard the comment.
“They looked sad for me,” Marshburn said.
On December 6, Polito, 67, killed three UNLV faculty members on the fourth floor of the business school.
After opening fire, the gunman went to several other floors of the business school before he was killed in a shootout with two university police detectives outside the building, next to the university's student union, UNLV Police Chief Adam Garcia said.
In a statement, UNLV President Keith Whitfield said the mass shooting was “the most difficult day in the history of our university” and said his “heart breaks for the families, friends and loved ones of Dr. Navarro and Dr. Chang.”
Both Navarro and Chang were killed in a 40-minute rampage carried out by Polio, who did not work at UNLV but had reportedly applied for several jobs there but was rejected each time.
From Navarro former University of Puerto Rico professor David Correa told the Las vegas review diary that she was a mother of four children.
She was first identified in an Instagram post shared by the California All-Stars Las Vegas Cheer Gym, which read: “Our hearts are shattered as we share the devastating news of the loss of a beloved member of our Cali family during yesterday's senseless shooting.
“Our deepest condolences and prayers go out to the Navarro-Velez family during this unimaginably difficult time,” the post said.
Law enforcement officers enter the UNLV campus after reports of an active shooter in Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S., December 6, 2023
Professor Cha Jan “Jerry” Chang, 64, taught business administration and worked at UNLV for more than two decades. He was a long-respected lecturer who focused on management information systems.
A former student praised the professor on an education review site after news of his death, saying they were “lucky” to have been taught by him and “felt he wasn't taken from us so quickly.”
Chang died of a gunshot wound to the head, the coroner ruled, and Navarro-Velez died of multiple gunshot wounds, according to 8NewsNow.
The third victim was identified as Naoko Takemaru, 69, an associate professor of Japanese studies at the university.
It was later revealed that Polito had sent 22 letters to faculty members at universities across the U.S., but the contents of those letters were not immediately known, Sheriff Kevin McMahill said Wednesday.
Officials were able to intercept some of the letters sent, and the first one opened contained an “unknown white powder substance,” McMahill said.
The sheriff said police have contacted everyone on the suspect's target list, except for one person who was on a flight.
“None of the individuals on the target list became victims,” McMahill said.
Sheriff Kevin McMahill is seen at a news conference Wednesday evening. The sheriff said police have contacted everyone on the suspect's target list, except for one person who was on a flight
Marshburn said she decided to come forward with her story so other women could feel like they could be heard, too
When Marshburn reported the incident to the dean in 2016, she also said Polito rarely adhered to the curriculum and was instead fixated on Las Vegas.
After the UNLV shooting, Marshburn spoke publicly about her interaction with the professor. She said she decided to come forward with her story so other women could feel like they too could be heard.
“It's not okay for our professors, or anyone for that matter, to make sexual comments, or about anything we wear, no matter how we look,” Marshburn said.
When Marshburn reported the incident to the dean in 2016, she also said Polito rarely adhered to the curriculum and was instead fixated on Las Vegas.
“I didn't learn anything about supply chain management,” she said.
Another student, Paul Whittington, now 33, told the Associated Press that Polito frequently spoke during class about his many trips to Las Vegas.
Polito told his students that he came there twice a year, stayed at different hotels and went to different clubs, Whittington said.
Another former student of Polito supported Marshburn's claim, saying he also felt uncomfortable.
The 32-year-old woman from Durham, North Carolina, who asked to remain anonymous, told NBC News that he “pursued” her for almost the entire semester, constantly sending her emails and texts and even buying her gifts.
“I felt attacked,” the woman said.
The woman said she once considered Polito a mentor until he took it too far and invited her to Las Vegas in 2012.
She said she never thought about reporting Polito because he was well respected on campus and the whole situation felt unusual to her
“It was just so bizarre,” she said.
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