The latest on the UNLV shooting

What We Know About the UNLV Shooting

ABC News, citing law-enforcement sources, reports that the gunman in yesterday’s shooting at UNLV was 67-year-old Anthony Polito, a semi-retired college professor who’d allegedly been turned down for a job at the university. ABC reports that police have searched a Henderson apartment said to be Polito’s, and are going through his phone and writings hoping to determine a motive.

KVVU Channel 5 describes the scene at the apartment.

In addition, says ABC, since the victims — three of whom are dead, with another in the hospital — weren’t students, but rather staff, investigators suspect the shooting may not have been random. Polito allegedly used a handgun; he died in a shootout with police. [ABC News, KVVU]

➡️ The incident terrified students and campus staff, many of whom heard the shots and barricaded themselves into their rooms, sheltering in place for hours. Social media rippled with “marked safe” posts from the UNLV community. [Nevada Independent]

➡️ Political leaders, only a few years after feeling similar emotions over the Oct. 1 shooting, express grief, frustration. [Review-Journal]

➡️ Officials closed roads in the vicinity, including a stretch of I-15. Events were canceled: a vigil for the troopers run over on the freeway last week; UNLV’s basketball game; CCSD sports; and the opening events of today’s first day of the National Finals Rodeo. [Review-Journal]

➡️ Various groups and agencies have mental-health resources available for people affected by the violence. [Review-Journal]

➡️ For more context and perspective: Check out today’s podcast episode. [City Cast Las Vegas 🎧]

🗳️ GOP Leaders Indicted

Six Nevada Republicans — including state party chairman Michael McDonald — have been indicted on two felony counts each in the 2020 “fake elector” episode. Among the indicted: Clark County party leader Jesse Law, who had announced his candidacy for a state Assembly seat the same day. This comes two months before the Nevada GOP presidential caucus. [Nevada Independent, X]

🖼️ Art Museum Takes Small Step

The dream of a downtown art museum solidified slightly this week with an agreement between the city of Las Vegas and the Las Vegas Art Museum to spend six months mutually exploring the siting of the facility on 1.5 acres in Symphony Park — it’d be three stories totalling 90,000 square feet. Museum partners are said to include Elaine Wynn and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. [KSNV]

A Tragic Day for Las Vegas

In the aftermath of yesterday’s mass shooting at UNLV, executive producer Sonja Cho Swanson, producer Layla Muhammad, and co-host Dayvid Figler take a measured, earnest look at how the community responds. They talk about how many in the community have friends who work or study at UNLV and relay firsthand accounts of the confusion and chaos that unfolded. They also take a look at the most current information being given (or not given) by law enforcement. Finally, they remember the tragedy of Oct. 1, 2017, to see what lessons were learned and look at both the shortcomings and necessity of comparing mass shootings.