At least 3 dead after shooting on UNLV campus, police say | CNN (2024)

Three people are dead and one person is in stable condition following a shooting at the University of Nevada Las Vegas, police said on Wednesday. The suspected shooter is also dead.

Here’s what you should know:

The post has been updated with the latest information from police on the three deceased victims.

Shelter in place orders have been lifted at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, campus hours after a shooting there left three victims dead, the universitysaid on X (formerly Twitter).

“Law Enforcement confirm that there is NO longer an active threat on UNLV campus. All Shelter-in-place instructions are lifted,” the post read.

The first events of the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo scheduled for Thursday were canceled following a shooting at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, the Las Vegas Events (LVE) Board of Trustees and the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association Board of Directors announced ina news releaseWednesday.

“All of us are saddened by the events that occurred today,” LVE President Tim Keener said in the release. “Our thoughts and prayers go out to all who have been affected. We are grateful to all of the first responders, police, security and the UNLV community for their actions today.”

The Cowboy Channel Cowboy Christmas will continue as planned Thursday, the release said.

Thanks to the quick actions of the police officers that responded to the shooting at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, campus, many lives were saved that were in danger, Las Vegas Metropolitan Police DepartmentSheriff Kevin McMahillsaid during a news conference Wednesday.

“There was a gathering just outside of the building where the students were playing games and eating food,” McMahill said. “There were tables set up for them to play Legos, and if it hadn’tbeen for the heroic actions of one of those police officers who responded, there could’vebeen countless additionallives taken.”

Officers responded to an active shooter call at 11:45 a.m. PT (2 p.m. ET) and shortly after engaged the suspect outside of Beam Hall on the university campus, McMahillsaid.The shooting started on the fourth floor of the building and went to multiple floors before the suspect was neutralized outside, he said.

The university will be closed for the rest of the week, university police said.

The suspect in the UNLV shooting is a 67-year-old career college professor, a law enforcement source told CNN.

The suspect has connections with schools in Georgia and North Carolina, but it is unknown what connection the suspect had with the school where Wednesday’s fatal shooting took place.

Police are not releasing the name of the suspect, who is also dead, until their next of kin is notified, Las Vegas Metropolitan Police DepartmentSheriff Kevin McMahill said in a news conference.

Three other people were killed in the shooting, one person was transported to a local hospital with a gunshot wound and four other people who were suffering from panic attackswere also sent to local hospitals, according to McMahill.

There have been80US school shootings so far this year, according to a CNN analysis. Of those,51shootings have been reported on K-12 campuses and29on university and college campuses.

This includes the latest shooting in Las Vegas on the UNLV campus.

A student who was inside the building on the University of Nevada’s Las Vegas campus where the shooting took place said no one was concerned at first when they heard a noise during class.

Brett Johnsen was attending class on the second floor of the business law building when his professor stopped mid-lecture after hearing a loud noise —but he said it didn’t sound like a gunshot so the professor continued teaching.

“Then an alarm came on,” Johnsen said. “I’ve never heard an alarm like that before, it didn’t sound like a fire alarm,”

The students in the class began packing things up, relatively calmly, Johnsen said.

“When we began to walk out of the class, that’s when things got real,” he said.

The look on his professor’s face turned into panic and he urged the students to get back, lock the door and get on the ground.

A few moments later, the professor opened the door to check that it was clear and advised the students to run. Johnsen said he ran as fast as he could down the stairs of the building and outside as far as he could go.

He said everyone on campus was telling each other to run and evacuate.

“It looked like every single cop in Las Vegas was at UNLV,” Johnsen said.

Authorities in Las Vegas are still evacuating buildings on the University of Nevada Las Vegas campus following a shooting there Wednesday, the University Police Servicessaid on X.

Authorities asked anyone on campus to continue sheltering in place until the area is cleared, and described the incident as an “active investigation.”

Three people are dead and one person is in critical condition following a shooting at the University of Nevada Las Vegas, Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Departmentsaid on X.

The suspect is also dead, police said.

Sunrise Hospital’s trauma center is actively treating three patients from the shooting on the University of Nevada, Las Vegas campus.

The hospital activated its mass casualty protocol when it got word of the shooting,trauma medical director Dr. Chris Fisher said in a video statement shared with CNN.

“Our staff was prepared to handle many more patients than we received,” Fisher said. The hospital is now back open to all patients.

“Our hearts go out to the UNLV community, their families and everyone impacted by this tragedy,” Marissa Mussi, Sunrise Hospital & Medical Center spokesperson, told CNN.

This post has been updated with the latest comments from the hospital medical director.

President Joe Biden marked a pair of shootings in Texas and Nevada over the last 24 hours by expressing sympathy for families of those affected by both shootings, while also calling on Republicans in Congress to pass a ban on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines.

Police said there were at least three victims after a shooting at the University of Nevada campus in Las Vegas on Wednesday.

At least six people were killed in shootings in two Central Texas communities on Tuesday.

Biden touted action he has taken since being elected president but said in a statement Wednesday, “We cannot do more without Congress.”

“Republican lawmakers must join with Democrats in Congress to ban assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, pass a national red flag law, enact universal background checks, require the safe storage of guns, and advance other commonsense measures that will help stem the tide of gun violence,” the president said.

Biden said federal law enforcement officials are working with state and local officials in Texas and Nevada.

ATF and the FBI are on the scene and stand ready to assist local partners in Las Vegas, a Department of Justice spokesperson said.

Attorney General Merrick Garlandhas also been briefed on the shooting at UNLV and is monitoring the situation, the spokesperson said.

“Together, we must do more to prevent more families, and more communities like Austin, San Antonio, and Las Vegas, from being ripped apart by gun violence,” Biden said.

CNN’s Hannah Rabinowitz contributed reporting to this post.

A local television reporter was interviewing students for a story on the University of Nevada, Las Vegas campus when a shooter opened fire on Wednesday.

KSNV reporter Brett Forrest described having to shelter in place inside a building with students and other university faculty when the shooting started.

“We are told that they are coming building by building slowly letting out each building, making sure there are no additional victims or anyone else inside so they might take a while to get to us,” Forrest said. “We do feel safe in here, thankfully. I’m with dozens of students and faculty and staff and they’ve just been checking their phones, messaging loved ones, getting whatever news they could from the internet.”

Forrest said he remained on campus for several hours, despite authorities indicating there was no longer a threat. Police later said officers engaged with the suspect and that the person was now dead.

Many of the students at the UNLV campus are from Las Vegas and know what the community went through in the aftermath of the 2017 mass shooting in the city, Forrest said.

“It’s a scary, unfortunate situation, and I’m sure a lot of them are worried maybe their classmates or friends are among the victims,” he said. “It’s unfortunate our community has to go through this again.”

Tonight’s game between the University of Dayton and the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) campus has been canceled, the Dayton men’s team announced Wednesday.

The game was scheduled to take place in Dayton at 9 p.m. ET.

“Due to the tragic events unfolding on UNLV’s campus, tonight’s men’s basketball contest between UNLV and the University of Dayton will not be played. Further information will be released when available.We ask that our fans keep the UNLV community in their thoughts and prayers,” Dayton’s team said in a post on X.

There are at least three victims in the shooting incident on the University of Nevada, Las Vegas campus, the sheriff said.

Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department Sheriff Kevin McMahill said in asocial media post that the extent of the injuries is not known and the number of victims could change.

“No more threat to the community. The suspect is deceased. Right now, we know there are 3 victims, but unknown extent of the injuries. That number could change. We will update you when we know more,” McMahill said.

The police department also set up a hotline for those impacted by the shooting.

A number of victims in the University of Nevada shooting have been transported to local hospitals, Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Sheriff Kevin McMahill said Wednesday at a news conference. The shooter’s motive in the incident is unclear, he said.

McMahill did not say how many victims there were, or give information on their condition.

“I don’t want to give you false information and tell you how many victims that we have, but we will be providing that update very, very shortly,” he said.

The sheriff added that there is no further threat to those on campus, and said an investigation is ongoing.

“This is still a very active and dynamic scene,” McMahill said. “So if you could avoid the area, we would appreciate it.”

This post has been updated with more details from the news conference.

Officials provided few details at a news conference Wednesday about a shooting at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

Authorities received a call of an active shooter at 11:45 a.m. local time, said Adam Garcia, the director of the University Police Services.

At a news conference Wednesday, Garcia said there is no further threat to the university and police have not identified a motive.

The University of Nevada is closing its campus for the remainder of Wednesday after an active shooting, the university posted on social media.

All other associated colleges throughout the state will also be closed, it said.

The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department said the suspect in the shooting “has been located and is deceased.”

The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department will soon hold a news conference to provide updates on the shooting at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

Sheriff Kevin McMahill and Adam Garcia, vice president of Public Safety Services and director of University Police Services,are expected to speak at the news conference.

The Las Vegas Harry Reid International Airport is experiencing flight impacts because of a “security incident,”according to an alert from the Federal Aviation Administration.

The airport is located near the University of Nevada Las Vegas campus where police say there was an active shooter on Wednesday.

The FAA has ordered flights in much of the western US bound for the Reid airport held and warned inbound flights of delays.

The FAA referred questions about the incident to local law enforcement.

Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn G. Goodman called the shooting on the Las Vegas campus of the University of Nevada “tragic and heartbreaking.”

Police said there appear to be multiple victims after an active shooting on Wednesday.

“Tragic and heartbreaking news coming out of @unlv. Praying for everyone on campus as law enforcement responds to the situation,” Goodman said in astatement on X, formerly Twitter.

Nevada Gov. Joe Lombardo said his office was in “contact communication” with police and other emergency responders, according to a post on X, and urged people on campus to listen to law enforcement.

US Rep. Susie Lee said she is “horrified by the reports” of the active shooting. Lee represents Nevada’s 3rd Congressional District which includes part of Las Vegas, though not the area where the campus is located.

She also added in a post on X that she is also in contact with police.

Nevada Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto said in a post that she was also monitoring the shooting reports and urged everyone to “seek safety and listen to our law enforcement officers responding to the scene.”

One University of Nevada student described sheltering in place in the student union building after hearing there was an active shooter on the Las Vegas campus on Wednesday.

“We found out cops were on site and we just sheltered in place until we were evacuated. And it took us about 30 minutes to get us evacuated,” the student, Jessica, told CNN affiliate KVVU.

According to a campus map, the student union is located across the street from the business school, Beam Hall, where she said they heard the active shooting took place.

“They had guns, we all walked out of the building hands up,” another student who did not give her name told KVVU. “They evacuated us out of the student union. We walked past one of the windows, the window was shot through, glass everywhere.”

That student said they could hear the gunshots from where they were in the student union.

“About 200 kids all in one space,” she said, referring to the students sheltering in the building. “A lot of people were panicking.”

The suspect in the University of Nevada, Las Vegas shooting has been contained, Las Vegas Metro Police said on social media.

University of Nevada, Las Vegas police are responding to reports of additional shots fired at the Student Union building, which is right next to Beam Hall on campus, according to a university alert.

Students and staff were warned to shelter in place.

The White House said it is monitoring the shooting reported at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) “very closely.”

Press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said she was “just” told about the shooting as Wednesday’s press briefing was going on.

“I just was told about the shooting. Obviously, we’re going to continue to monitor what’s currently occurring I don’t want to get ahead of what local enforcements are probably dealing with at this time,” Jean-Pierre told reporters at the briefing.

The White House added that the second gentleman is already scheduled to deliver remarks tonight at the Newtown Action Alliance Foundation’s 11th Annual National Vigil for All Victims of Gun Violence.

The president was previously scheduled to visit Las Vegasthis Fridayto deliver remarks.

Authorities from the University of Nevada Las Vegas issued an alert, warning students and staff of reports of shots fired and telling them to evacuate to a safe area.

A secretary in the university’s medical school tells CNN they have been told to shelter in place.