Las Vegas Metro Police respond to a shooting reported on the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, campus, Wednesday, Dec. 6, 2023, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Lucas Peltier)
LAS VEGAS (AP) — A person opened fire Wednesday on the University of Nevada, Las Vegas campus. Medics transported at least three victims to hospitals. Local police provided the update, including that the shooter was found dead.
“Right now, we know there are 3 victims, but unknown extent of the injuries,” Sheriff Kevin McMahill said in a post on X, formerly Twitter. “That number could change.”
McMahill did not say whether any victims had died. Authorities planned to give further updates at a news conference scheduled for 5 p.m. PT.
Watch some of that conference below.
University police official Adam Garcia said alerts went out across the campus after callers reported an active shooter to police at 11:45 a.m. Wednesday. He said officers found and “engaged” a suspect. The gunman is now dead. It was not immediately clear how the suspect died.
The university said on X, formerly Twitter, that the shooter was at the Beam Hall, Frank and Estella Building, home of UNLV’s Lee Business School. They also said police responded to an additional report of shots fired at the nearby student union.
“This is not a test, the university wrote. “RUN-HIDE-FIGHT.”
Las Vegas police posted on X that a suspect “has been located and is deceased” about 40 minutes after the initial alert was posted.
UNLV has more than 30,000 undergraduate and graduate students at its 332-acre campus, which is less than 2 miles east of the Las Vegas Strip.
The shooting occurred in a city still scarred by one of the worst mass killings in U.S. history, the Oct. 1, 2017, mass shooting at the Mandalay Bay casino in Las Vegas, in which 60 were killed and hundreds more wounded. The UNLV campus is just over three miles from that location.
University of Nevada faculty staff and students spoke to a local press about today’s experience.
Professor Kevaney Martin took cover under a desk in her classroom, where another faculty member and three students took shelter with her.
“It was terrifying, I can’t even begin to explain,” Martin said. “I was trying to hold it together for my students and trying 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 receive word a suspect had been detained. When another professor came to the room and told everyone to evacuate, they joined dozens of others rushing out of the building. Martin had her students piled into her car and drove them off campus.
“Once we got away from UNLV, we parked and sat in silence,” she said. “Nobody said a word. We were in utter shock.”
This is the latest update in the investigation. More to come. Check back for updates.
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Associated Press reporters Ken Ritter, Rio Yamat, and Russ Bynum contributed to this report from Savannah, Georgia.
