Nervous UNLV students return to campus after fatal shooting
Dec 7, 2023, 6:12 PM | Updated: Dec 8, 2023, 7:37 am
LAS VEGAS — Disturbing new details from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas campus shooting where three people were killed and another was critically injured.
According to Las Vegas police, the suspect, 67-year-old Anthony Polito, fatally shot three UNLV faculty members and hospitalized one on campus Wednesday.
Police say Polito tried to get a job at the university in 2020 but was rejected. Authorities believe the victims may have been targeted.
“Everyone was crying. We were all just scared,” UNLV student Kamdyn Swanbeck told KSL TV’s Dan Rason, who traveled to Las Vegas to cover the shooting.
UNLV student Kamdyn Swanbeck. (KSL TV)
Swanbeck was one of dozens of students police escorted back to the buildings they were in to get their belongings, which they left behind after they fled the shooting.
“I don’t know if you can see I’m a little shaky,” said Swanbeck. “It’s safe now, but it’s still nerve-wracking to be back in the place when I felt so scared when I felt like my life was over. It was nerve-wracking to be back in there.”
Swanbeck is a former Brigham Young University student who transferred to UNLV. The Student Union building sits right next door to the business building where the mass shooting unfolded yesterday afternoon.
“We heard a lot of yelling and screaming and just noise, and we were freaking out, and all of a sudden the doors in the corner open, and the teachers put their hands up, and I thought we were all going to die, but it ended up being the police,” she said.
Professor Kevin Stoker is the director of the School of Journalism Studies on campus. He also taught at BYU for 10 years.
“You’re almost angry. Somebody has threatened those you love. These are great students, the best in the world,” he said.
Professor Kevin Stoker (left) walking through the events to KSL TV’s Dan Rascon (right) (KSL TV)
Stoker said this is not something the University will overcome anytime soon.
“It’s not just students who are going to be shell-shocked by this; it’s also our faculty. There are a lot of nervous issues, and we are worried about how this will turn out,” Stoker said.
School officials said the campus remains closed until further notice. Police said no students were hurt in this shooting.
