The UNLV mass shooter has been identified as 67-year-old Anthony “Tony” Polito. The shooting took place during the day on Wednesday, December 6th, 2023. Three staff members were shot and unfortunately died as a result of their injuries. Another person was shot and critically injured. No students were harmed and the shooting was contained to one building. UNLV has its own police force and they appeared to have been first on the scene. Polito was found dead but it is not clear if the police engaged in a shootout with him or if he took his own life. Polito was armed with a handgun but the type (semi-automatic or revolver) was not disclosed.
Anthony Polito was a tenured professor at East Carolina University (ECU) when he retired in 2017. Polito identified as “semi-retired” on his LinkedIn page. He reportedly applied for a job at UNLV but was rejected for unknown reasons. The rejection may or may not have been the motivation behind the shooting, but that isn’t known as of the writing of this article. However, events like this being carried out by people of an advanced age, especially for no reason at all, are extremely rare.
SOURCES:
UNLV shooting: Former college professor accused of killing three on Las Vegas campus
UNLV shooter was career college professor, source says, but unknown whether he had a connection with school | CNN
UNLV shooting: Vegas shooter was professor who applied for job, source says | AP News
UNLV shooting unfolded 3.5 miles away from the deadliest modern mass shooting : NPR
LeBron reacts to UNLV shooting, calling inaction on gun control ‘ridiculous’ – ESPN
