Newly released 911 calls reveal the terror students experienced when a mass shooter opened fire on the Nevada University campus Wednesday.
Three people died after suspected gunman Anthony Polito, 67, opened fire after being recently rejected from a college job.
The victims, Cha Jan Chang, Patricia Navarro Velez and Naoko Takemaru, were all faculty members. Polito died at the scene after a gun battle with police.
“Someone is shooting in the office,” a woman told emergency services in an emergency call.
“Please hurry,” she pleaded as gunshots could be heard in the background.
Police officers enter the UNLV campus following reports of an active shooter in Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S., December 6, 2023
Suspected shooter Anthony Polito, 67, opened fire after being rejected from a recent college job
The operator asked if anyone else was with her and she replied, “It’s just me… I’m alone.”
A second 911 caller said, “I just got off the elevator.” I heard gunshots and screaming and ran.
“A lot of students are running… Two officers ran into the building and I ran out of the building,” they explained.
Frightened parents also called 911 and told authorities that their children were hiding in classrooms.
A mother said her daughter could hear the shots. While the mother was on the phone with 911, she received a text message from her daughter saying, “Mom, I'm scared.”
The operator said the mother should tell her daughter to stay quiet – and tell her not to open the door unless she heard her screaming. They will announce: “Metro Police.”
Police said Polito had a list of people he wanted to target, but when he couldn't find them, he opened fire indiscriminately, ABC News reported.
A fourth victim was shot but was in stable condition Wednesday evening.
Patricia Navarro Velez, 39, an accounting professor who was one of three victims shot Wednesday
Cha Jan “Jerry” Chang, an associate professor in the business school’s Department of Management, Entrepreneurship and Technology, was shot
Naoko Takemaru, 69, an associate professor of Japanese studies, was killed in the shooting
Students are seen evacuating the scene of Wednesday's shooting on the University of Nevada campus
Two women are seen talking on the phone after Wednesday's shooting to say they are OK
Las Vegas police are seen at the scene of the college shooting Wednesday morning
The officers involved in the shooting with Polito were identified as Det. Nathaniel Drum, who has been with the University Police Department since 2017, and Officer Damien Garcia, who has been with the police department since 2018.
Both were placed on administrative leave pending an investigation per department policy.
“These two officers are heroes,” Adam Garcia, chief of police for the University Police Southern Command, said Friday.
“You prevented the worst from becoming a bloodbath.”
Joe Biden said the shooting – which came a day after six people were shot in Austin and San Antonio – was “not normal, and we must never allow it to become normal.”
Biden said he was saddened that the university was “the latest college campus to be terrorized by a horrific act of gun violence.”
He thanked first responders and said it shows more needs to be done to end the epidemic of gun violence.
“This year alone, our country has experienced more than 600 mass shootings and approximately 40,000 deaths from gun violence.” “This is not normal and we can never let it become normal,” he said in a White House statement.
“Despite all the actions we have taken since I became president, the epidemic of gun violence we face requires us to do more.”
“But without Congress, we can't do more.” Republican lawmakers must join with Democrats in Congress to ban assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, pass a national red flag law, implement universal background checks, require safe storage of guns, and other sensible ones Advance measures that will help stem the tide of gun violence.
“And together, we must do more to prevent more families and more communities like Austin, San Antonio and Las Vegas from being torn apart by gun violence.”