07 December 2023 , 20:26
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A day after a disgruntled professor opened fire at a university, killing three people and critically wounding a fourth, police have announced the names of the victims.
No students were killed in the shooting and all victims were faculty members, school officials announced Thursday on X, formerly Twitter. Patricia Navarro, an Assistant Professor, was the first victim named in the shooting.
Navarro's bio says, "prior to entering academia, Dr. Navarro was a Risk Assurance Manager at the PwC San Juan office."
The second named victim is Cha Jan “Jerry” Chang. Chang has a Ph.D. in Management Information Systems from the University of Pittsburgh and was a professor of Management Information Systems at UNLV.
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Police are seen at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas a day after the shooting by a university professor resulting in 3 deaths (BACKGRID)Navarro specialized in Information Technology General Controls (ITGC) audits, System and Organization Controls (SOC) assurance, and data assurance." Dr. Navarro is a Certified Information Systems Auditor.
The shooting originated on the fourth floor of Beam Hall, a building on campus, Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department Sheriff Kevin McMahill said.
It went to "multiple floors," McMahill said, before the suspect was "neutralized" outside of the building. McMahill condemned the shooter, saying students "should not feel fear on campus while pursuing their dreams."
The gunman in Wednesday’s shooting was a professor who had unsuccessfully sought a job at the school, a law enforcement official with direct knowledge of the investigation told The Associated Press.
He previously worked at East Carolina University in North Carolina, said the official, who spoke anonymously because they weren’t authorized to release the information publicly.
Another law enforcement official identified the suspect as Anthony Polito, 67. Investigators searched an apartment in Henderson, Nevada, late Wednesday as part of the investigation and retrieved several electronic devices, including Polito’s cellphone, the official said. The official was not authorized to discuss details of the investigation and spoke to AP on condition of anonymity.
Sheriff Kevin McMahill revealed that students had been gathering outside for fun and relaxation during their finals week. He said: "Importantly, there was a gathering outside where students were playing games and eating food. There was a table set up for them to build lego. If it hadn't been for the heroic actions of one of these officers there could have been countless additional lives taken."
Last night, President Joe Biden said he and first lady Jill Biden issued a statement following the shooting, saying they were praying for the families of the victims.
Biden said in a statement that UNLV “became the latest college campus to be terrorized by a horrific act of gun violence, and the community is still awaiting information on casualties." He added: "Jill and I join citizens across our nation in praying for the families of our fallen, and for those who were injured during these latest acts of senseless violence. We are also grateful for the courageous work of law enforcement — who risked their own safety to bring an end to these deadly shooting sprees."