University of Nevada Las Vegas (UNLV) shooting leads to 3 killed, gunman in his 60’s dead along one person critically injured. No known motive as authorities investigate.
A gunman suspect wounded and killed several people at the University of Nevada‘s Las Vegas campus over 40-minutes before being killed, police said. Interim reports told of at least three individuals killed and one person critically injured following a volley of gunfire, Wednesday morning.
The gunfire elicited the drawing of responding tactical teams to the college, with officials warning students to ‘RUN-HIDE-FIGHT.’
Less than an hour after the eruption of gunfire, the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department announced the suspect was deceased.
UNLV shooter id as ‘much loved’ professor who failed to get job at school
#BREAKING: At least 3 victims were shot after a school shooter began firing on the #UNLV campus.#LasVegas police say the suspect was found dead in the school’s #BeamHall.
No word yet on how the victims are doing nor how the shooter died. #CourtTV pic.twitter.com/L5AF8lm0Iz
— Court TV (@CourtTV) December 6, 2023
BREAKING: Sheriff Kevin McMahill of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department says “there’s no further threat” and authorities have “no idea on the motive” after shooting at the UNLV. pic.twitter.com/CrtRDNFt01
— ABC News Live (@ABCNewsLive) December 6, 2023
The FAA has placed a ground stop for flights bound for Las Vegas International Airport following the shooting at UNLV. When was the last time an airport shut down after a mass shooting? Something more seems to be happening.
pic.twitter.com/NHz5UgZ8hp— Charles R Downs (@TheCharlesDowns) December 6, 2023
UNLV shooting: No known motive
‘Right now, we know there are 3 victims, but unknown extent of the injuries. That number could change,’ Metro Sheriff Kevin McMahill of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police said in a release
Officials said ‘multiple victims’ had been targeted in the attack, including one man critically, with sources telling NBC News that the gunman – who is also dead – was a man in his 60s. His connection, if any, to the university remained unclear.
Early reports indicate additional shots may have been fired in the college’s student union, with officials continuing to evacuate buildings one at a time as police continued to urge students to remain sheltering in place.
During a press conference Wednesday afternoon, Sheriff Kevin McMahill said there was ‘no further threat’ to the university, with officials saying they had ‘no idea on a motive’ for the mass shooting.
Footage shared to social media showed tactical crews moving through the campus, with officers seen scoping out the scene from a building’s roof.
Officials said several victims have been rushed to a local hospital, with one reportedly placed on alert for a ‘mass casualty event.’
The campus is in the heart of Las Vegas across from the Harry Reid International Airport and near to the city’s strip, just a few miles from the site of the city’s worst mass shooting in 2017, when a gunman opened fire on the crowd at the Route 91 Music Festival, killing 58 people and wounding hundreds more.
A witness to the attack told Fox News they heard several shots ring out through the campus, before they were evacuated by police.
‘(I heard) boom, boom, boom, more shots,’ she said. ‘So I ran into the basement and I heard shots outside, heard police, and then the police just evacuated me out.
‘I had my hands over my head and yeah, I was hearing a lot of shots. I did not know how many shooters there were. I did not really know anything.’
#BreakingNews 🚨
Additional firsthand narratives from UNLV students provide further accounts and personal perspectives on the shooting incident, offering additional insights into the unfolding events. pic.twitter.com/1K2UpOSiVC— Shabraiz Ahmed (@hafiz_shabraiz) December 6, 2023
‘It was about 200 kids all in one space and a lot of people were panicking,‘
The volley of gunfire led to students and staff fleeing for their lives.
‘I was sitting outside, I was just having breakfast. I heard three loud booms and I was like, oh, what was that?’ a student told CNN affiliate KVVU. ‘Police showed up, then I ran inside.
‘After two minutes, more shots. I ran into the basements, and I was there for 20,’ the student said. ‘I was just hearing a lot of shots.’
An English professor at UNLV, Vincent Perez, told MSNBC that he heard seven or eight loud gunshots ‘one after another’ when he inspected the campus from the balcony of a building.
‘We realized this is a real shooting, and there’s an active shooter on campus,’ he said.
‘It just sounded like a high-powered weapon — just echoing, echoing in a way that … makes you realize this is somebody out to kill people.’
‘We could hear the gunshots from where we were. It was about 200 kids all in one space and a lot of people were panicking,‘ another witness said.
They said the group were in the middle of a presentation in a board room of the student union, which flew into a panic as everyone inside received a text alert at the same time.
‘They said they put the building on lock down,’ they said.
‘They shut all the curtains. Everyone moved to one side of the room. After that, it was a lot of waiting for 20 minutes and we got told to move to a corner.
‘And we heard a lot of yelling. That is where stuff started to get more hectic… the yelling was officers and they came in and we all put our hands up and they escorted us all the way out here… I did see one glass shattered, it looks like by two gunshots.’
The episode comes as students are in the middle of a study week before taking final exams and going on winter break. UNLV has more than 30,000 students.
