The gunman who opened fire at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, Wednesday, killing three, mailed letters to 22 “various university personnel across the country” before the attack, police said Thursday.
Las Vegas Metro Police Department Sheriff Kevin McMahill said the suspect mailed the letters without a return address.
A white powder substance was found in a screening of one of the envelopes that was intercepted by law enforcement, McMahill said. The contents of the letters remains unclear.
McMahill said they were able to intercept all 22 letters mailed from a post office in nearby Henderson, Nevada, after sifting through 14,000 pieces of mail.
All 22 recipients of the letters have been contacted, according to McMahill. He also encouraged “anyone in the education world” who might receive a taped envelope with no return address in the mail to report it to local authorities.
Suspect had a list ‘seeking’ UNLV faculty members
The suspect, who has been identified as Anthony Polito, 67, had previously applied for multiple jobs within the Nevada higher education system, including at UNLV, McMahill said. He was denied each time.
He had a list with him containing names of faculty members both on UNLV’s campus, and faculty members at East Carolina University in North Carolina, where he worked from 2001-2017. McMahill said the shooter was “seeking” the people on that list.
“Students were not the targets here,” Chairman of Clark County Commissioner Jim Gibson said Thursday.
Officials have contacted almost everyone on this list to make sure they are OK, McMahill said, except for one ECU faculty member who is on an international flight.
None of the faculty members on the list became victims in the attack, McMahill told reporters Thursday.
The shooter arrived to campus at 11:28 a.m. local time and parked his car, a 2007 Lexus, at a parking lot south of Beam Hall at 11:30 a.m. He entered Beam Hall on the southeast corner of the building at 11:33 a.m., McMahill said.
The first shots fired were reported to police around 11:45 a.m., McMahill said, with the first officer arriving to the scene just 78 seconds later, according to University Police Department Chief Adam Garcia.
Two officers, upon hearing shots fired in Beam Hall, immediately entered the building and “without hesitation” to find and stop the suspect, according to McMahill.
McMahill said the shooter exited the building at 11:55 a.m. and was met by two plainclothes officers. A shootout ensued and the suspect was shot multiple times before falling to the ground. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
Two of the three victims killed have been identified as Patricia Navarro-Velez, 39, a Las Vegas resident who was the assistant professor of accounting and worked in Beam Hall on the fourth floor and ChaJan “Jerry” Chang, 64, a Henderson resident who was a professor of business who worked on the third floor of Beam Hall.
The identity of the third deceased victim has not been released.
A fourth victim is in life-threatening condition at Sunrise Hospital, McMahill said. He has been identified as a 38-year-old male who was a visiting professor at UNLV.
Handgun used in attack was purchased legally
A motive in the shooting remains unclear, McMahill said. Police are scrubbing through the suspect’s social media and personal devices to locate any warning signs. They said he acted alone.
The weapon used by the shooter was a Taurus 9mm handgun, McMahill said. The shooter had 11 magazines on scene with him, nine of which were loaded and found after the shooting in a magazine carrier affixed to his body.
The gun was purchased legally last year, McMahill said.
In executing a search warrant of the suspect’s apartment, McMahill said officials located a Taurus handgun box that matched the weapon used by the shooter.
Officials also found a chair with an arrow pointing to a document similar to a last will and testament, McMahill said. Officials did not detail what was in the document.
The suspect was struggling financially, McMahill said, which was determined by an evection notice posted on the front door of the suspect’s apartment. It was there when police arrived to execute the search warrant.
McMahill said he was not sure of other plans of violence past the UNLV attack, but added he is “glad [the shooter] didn’t get out of UNLV.”
The shooter had more than 150 additional rounds of ammunition and was probably heading to the student union where kids were outside enjoying a barbecue and playing with Legos, McMahill said.
Source: | This article originally belongs to Nbcnews.com
