Las Vegas police say at least three people have been killed and one person is in critical condition after a shooting at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas campus Wednesday afternoon.
Police say the suspect is dead.
“According to our investigators on scene, we have three deceased victims and one additional victim in critical condition at a local hospital,” said the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department. wrote on social media
“The suspect has been located and is deceased,” police said 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 sheltering in place while police evacuated the buildings one by one.
McMahill said at a news conference that there is no longer a threat to the community. He confirmed that one suspect was “down,” but police do not know the suspect’s motive.
From video obtained by Reuters
Multiple victims were transported to area hospitals, McMahill said. “It’s still a very active and dynamic scene,” he added.
Sunrise Hospital’s trauma center has confirmed that the center has admitted three patients from the shooting incident, according to trauma medical director Chris Fisher.
The first call about the active shooter came in around 11:45 a.m. local time, University Police Director Adam Garcia said at the news conference.
A reunification center for families unable to contact loved ones has been opened in North Hall on campus, Clark County Fire Chief John C. Steinbeck said at the news conference.
A federal law enforcement official told CBS News that the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives are responding and offering to assist the Metropolitan Police in their investigation.
Madeline Carter/Las Vegas Review-Journal/Tribune News Service via Getty Images
Earlier Wednesday afternoon, police tweeted that they were “responding to preliminary reports of an #ActiveShooter on the UNLV campus near BEAM Hall. There appear 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 alerts have been sent to campus.
The university also posted on social media that police were responding to additional reports of shots fired in the Student Union.
University police also responded to the situation.
UNLV and all public colleges and universities in the state will be closed for the remainder of the day, the university said.
President Biden addressed the shooting in a statement Wednesday night and called for action to address the “epidemic of gun violence we face.”
“Just hours ago, the University of Nevada, 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 shootings in Austin and San Antonio, Texas.
“Despite all the actions we’ve taken since I’ve been president, the gun violence epidemic we’re facing demands that we do even more. But we can’t do more without Congress,” Mr. Biden wrote as he urged 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 it was “an unimaginably sad and shocking day for our entire state.”
“We send our deepest sympathies and thoughts to the families of the many victims of this terrible tragedy. Today and in the days to come we are all rebels,” Sandoval wrote on social media.
