LAS VEGAS– Terrified students and professors cowered in classrooms and dormitories as a gunman roamed the floors of a University of Nevada building in Las Vegas, killing three people and seriously wounding a fourth before dying in a shootout with the Police.
The gunman in Wednesday's shooting was a professor who had unsuccessfully sought a job at the school, a law enforcement official with direct knowledge of the investigation told the Associated Press. He previously worked at East Carolina University in North Carolina, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to release the information publicly.
The attack was the city's worst shooting since October 2017, when a gunman killed 60 people and injured more than 400 after opening fire from a room window at the Mandalay Bay casino on the world-famous Las Vegas Strip, just a few kilometers away. the UNLV campus.
Lessons learned from that shooting — the deadliest in modern U.S. history — helped authorities respond “seamlessly” to the UNLV attack, Sheriff Kevin McMahill said at a news conference.
About 11:45 a.m., the gunman opened fire on the fourth floor of the building that houses UNLV's Lee Business School, then moved to several other floors before being killed during a shootout with two university police detectives outside the building, police chief from UNLV. said Adam Garcia.
Authorities responded about 40 minutes after the first report of an active shooter.
Three people were killed and a fourth was hospitalized in critical but stable condition, police said.
It was not immediately clear how many of the 30,000 students were on campus at the time, but McMahill said students had gathered outside the building to eat and play games. If police had not killed the attacker, “numerous additional lives could have been claimed,” he said.
“No student should be afraid to pursue their dreams on a college campus,” the sheriff said.
Police did not immediately identify the victims, the attacker or the motive and did not say what type of weapon was used, although some witnesses reported hearing as many as 20 shots.
UNLV professor Kevaney Martin took cover under a desk in her classroom, where another faculty member and three students sheltered with her.
“It was terrifying. I can't even begin to explain it,” Martin said. “I tried to keep it together for my students and tried not to cry, but the emotions are something I never want to experience again.”
Martin said she was texting friends and loved ones, hoping to get word that a suspect had been arrested. When another professor came to the room and told everyone to evacuate, they ran out of the building along with dozens of others. Martin had her students get into her car and drove them off campus.
“Once we left UNLV, we parked and sat in silence,” she said. “No one said a word. We were completely shocked.”
Selena Guevara said she received a call from her daughter, Markie Montoya, who was in class in the building and heard “gunshots, yelling and screaming” but was not injured.
“She's hysterical, saying 'I love you' and so scared,” Guevara said.
Another student, Jordan Eckermann, 25, said he was sitting in a second-floor business law classroom when he heard a loud bang and a piercing alarm going off, sending students to their feet. Some ran from the room in panic, while others heeded their professor's instructions to remain calm, Eckermann said.
He walked outside and looked at a law enforcement officer in a bulletproof vest holding a long gun. Clothes, backpacks and water bottles were scattered on the floor.
Eckerman said he told the officer, “Where do I go?”
The officer pointed to an exit.
A few minutes later, while outside, Eckermann said he heard gunshots, at least 20 bullets in all. The air smelled of gunpowder. He said he kept running away from campus even though he didn't know where to go.
College classes were canceled through Friday, and UNLV's basketball game at the University of Dayton, Ohio, was canceled Wednesday night because of the shootings.
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Associated Press reporters Terry Tang in Phoenix; WG Ramirez in Las Vegas, Russ Bynum in Savannah, Georgia and Robert Jablon in Los Angeles contributed to this report.