Las Vegas police believe that the suspect in the fatal shooting of at least three people is dead after responding to reports of gunshots on the local campus of the University of Nevada.
In a statement posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department did not provide further details regarding the incident. Furthermore, law enforcement officials did not reveal the number or condition of the victims in the shooting.
Las Vegas School Shooting
Authorities urged residents to avoid the area where the shooting occurred. A professor at the school, Vincent Perez, said he heard a lot of gunfire. When they heard the sounds, they ran back inside and realized that it was a real shooting and that there was an active shooter on campus.
Law enforcement authorities said that the incident occurred around Beam Hall, a campus building that houses the business school and other facilities. They added that there appeared to be multiple victims at the time of their report, as per the Straits Times.
In another post, campus police said that there was an additional report of gunshots that were fired inside the Student Union. The first reports of the shooting surfaced shortly after noon local time and Las Vegas police issued a report within about half an hour. They said that they had located the suspect and confirmed that he was deceased.
The university later issued an online advisory indicating that law enforcement authorities had not yet given an all-clear. The campus said that police were asking people to continue sheltering in place as they were evacuating buildings one at a time. The school added that the situation remained an active investigation.
The University of Nevada's Las Vegas campus is more than three kilometers east of the Las Vegas Strip. It has a student enrollment of roughly 25,000 undergraduates and 8,000 post-graduates and doctoral candidates.
Following the shooting, officials said that UNLV and all other Nevada System of Higher Education institutions across the state will be closed for the rest of Wednesday. Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department sheriff Kevin McMahill said during a press conference that they had no idea what the shooter's motive was so far, according to BBC.
At Least Three Victims
He added that law enforcement personnel transported several victims to area hospitals to be treated for injuries. Shortly after, the sheriff posted on X that there were three victims, but their conditions were not revealed.
In a statement, White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre said they were monitoring the situation. The mayor of Las Vegas, Carolyn Goodman said that the incident marked a tragic and heartbreaking moment, adding that she was "praying for everyone on campus."
A student from the school, John Harris said that he heard sounds he later realized were gunshots as he was getting out of his car in the parking garage. While inside the elevator, he got an emergency text alert from the university.
In a statement, the 21-year-old said he was unsure what to believe but ended up sheltering at a friend's dorm. He noted that when he came down to the street, he saw a lot of police in the parking lot at the Student Union, said the Associated Press.
