Las Vegas shooting: At least 3 killed at UNLV, suspect dead, police say

Las Vegas police say at least three people were killed and one person was in critical condition after a shooting on the University of Nevada, Las Vegas campus Wednesday afternoon.

Police said the suspect was dead.

“According to our investigators at the scene, we have three deceased victims and one additional victim in critical condition at a local hospital,” the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department wrote on social media

“The suspect has been located and is deceased,” police wrote in an earlier post.

Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department Sheriff Kevin McMahill said Wednesday afternoon that there were at least three victims and that the number could change.

The university asked people to continue to shelter in place as police evacuated buildings one at a time.

McMahill said at a news conference that there was no further threat to the community. He confirmed that one suspect was “down” but that police did not know the suspect’s motive. 

Multiple victims were transported to area hospitals, McMahill said. “This is still a very active and dynamic scene,” he added.

Sunrise Hospital Trauma Center confirmed the center had received three patients from the shooting incident, according to trauma medical director Chris Fisher.

The first call about the active shooter came at about 11:45 a.m. local time, university police director Adam Garcia said at the news conference. 

A reunification center for families unable to get ahold of their loved ones has been opened at the campus’s North Hall, Clark County Fire Chief John C. Steinbeck said at the news conference. 

A federal law enforcement official told CBS News the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives were responding and offering assistance with the investigation to the metropolitan police.

Earlier Wednesday afternoon, police tweeted that they were “responding to preliminary reports of an #ActiveShooter on the campus of UNLV near BEAM Hall. There appears to be multiple victims at this time. Please avoid the area and we will have more information soon.”

The university’s media relations department confirmed the active shooter situation, saying that alerts have gone out to the campus.

The university also wrote on social media that police were responding to additional reports of shots fired in the Student Union.

University police were responding to the situation as well.

UNLV and all public colleges and universities statewide will be closed for the remainder of the day, the university said. 

President Biden addressed the shooting in a statement Wednesday evening and called for measures to address “the epidemic of gun violence we face.”

“Just hours ago, the University of Nevada at Las Vegas became the latest college campus to be terrorized by a horrific act of gun violence,” Mr. Biden said in the statement, in which he also addressed shooting deaths in Austin and San Antonio, Texas.  
 
“For all the action we have taken since I’ve been President, the epidemic of gun violence we face demands that we do even more. But we cannot do more without Congress,” Mr. Biden wrote while urging Republican lawmakers to help pass an assault weapons ban and universal background checks, among other measures.

Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodman called the news “tragic and heartbreaking.” 

“Praying for everyone on campus as law enforcement responds to the situation,” she wrote.

University president Brian Sandoval said this was “an unimaginably sad and shocking day for our entire state.”

“We send our deepest sympathies and our thoughts are with the families of the multiple victims of this terrible tragedy. Today and in the days to come we are all Rebels,” Sandoval wrote on social media.