GREENSBORO, N.C. — Las Vegas officials said a shooter gunned down three people and critically wounded a fourth, before dying in a shootout with police on the University of Nevada Las Vegas Campus.
The gunman was identified as Anthony Polito. He was a former college professor, who recently applied for a job at the University of Nevada Las Vegas.
We learned the shooter has ties to Duke and East Carolina University.
According to Duke University, Polito received an MBA from Duke's Fuqua School of Business in 1991.
From there, Polito worked as a professor at East Carolina University from 2001 to 2017.
Hunter Peyton went to ECU, graduating in 2012.
He said in 2010, 13 years ago, he had Polito as a professor for an operations management class.
"It's hard to believe it's been that long but, he was one of my favorite professors because he was very relatable, he talked about Vegas a lot, that's where he enjoyed going on vacation, and that's one of the things I distinctly remember was how much he enjoyed going to Las Vegas," said Peyton. "I remember a lot of a lot of times where he would encourage students to not give up on the class and would be willing to do whatever it takes to help you out."
Peyton said he was very relatable and was very well-liked among people.
He said it makes the news hard to comprehend.
I just immediately stopped in my tracks and was just completely in shock," said Peyton. "I didn't think he would ever in a million years be capable of doing something like that."
Peyton said it proves that you never really know what a person is thinking or what they are going through.
"I've spoken to several of my friends who I knew had classes with him and we are all in disbelief that could happen to anybody and it's just never a million years would we thought this was gonna happen with him," he said. "My thoughts go out to the victims and it is just really hard to comprehend."
AP News said Polito recently applied for a job at UNLV but didn't get the job.
Lee Bernick is in his 50th year of being a professor.
For part of that, he taught at UNCG and was an elected Greensboro School Board member for nearly a decade.
Now, after being offered a chance to run the PHD program at the University of Nevada Las Vegas, he works as a professor there.
Bernick said he was walking out to his car 10 minutes before the shooting, which was right near his building.
He said a few years back, he had his office in the same building where the shooting happened.
Bernick said it is difficult to process, especially because when he started 50 years ago, this wasn't even a worry at all.
"Snow was our worries, not shootings," Bernick said. "It's such a strange kind of environment that we are living in right now."
Bernick said students and staff should feel safe to learn and now many are left with trauma.
It's a sentiment another professor mirrors.
Linda Lister is a Professor of Music at UNLV. She once lived in Greensboro as well and shared her thoughts in a statement.
"The campus community is shocked and saddened. My heart breaks for my students and colleagues, and the families of the victims. A college campus is normally a safe space where young people can learn, grow, and thrive. As a graduate of UNCG and a former faculty member at Greensboro College, I am sure my friends at those institutions empathize and share that ideal. An urban campus just a few miles from the Vegas Strip, UNLV is a public university that has long welcomed community involvement and engagement. For now, the focus is on helping our students process and heal from this traumatic experience," Lister said.
Kevin L. Stoker, Ph.D., is a former lecturer at UNCG. He currently works as a professor at Hank Greenspun School of Journalism and Media Studies at UNLV.
I spent two wonderful years in Greensboro as a lecturer at UNCG. It's been pretty hectic the last two days. I just barely got back to working on my laptop and happened to be at the office when the campus shut down. I had gone out for lunch a few minutes before the shooting. Tragic that we lost three faculty members from the business school. It was unnerving to see a text alerting us that there was an active shooter on campus and that we should run, hide, or fight. Subsequent texts urged us to shelter in place. One of our classes was meeting in the building where the shooting occurred. They heard the fire alarm go off before receiving notice of an active shooter. They safely exited the building, with the instructor carrying a student's scooter. My faculty was impressed at the response of their students. They knew exactly what to do. They barricaded their rooms and waited for police to clear out the building. It's going to take some time to process all of this, especially in light of the October 1 shooting that directly affected our student body as well.
Police are still looking into what sparked the shooting on UNLV's campus.
The first call about the active shooter came in just before noon local time in Nevada.
Students were told to shelter in place, as Las Vegas metro and university police responded within minutes, shooting and killing the suspect outside of Beam Hall.
Investigators believe the shooting started on the 4th floor of the building.
In addition to the three people killed, and one person wounded, four other people were hospitalized after suffering panic attacks.
Police also said two officers were injured while searching campus rooms and buildings for more victims.
Police have not officially identified all the victims.
Leaders said UNLV will remain closed for the week, and a decision will be made about whether it will reopen on Monday.