4 Dead Including Suspect After ‘Confirmed Active’ Shooting at Las Vegas University

People leave campus with raised hands following reports of a shooting at the University of Nevada, in the campus of Las Vegas on Dec. 6, 2023, in a still from video. Video obtained by Reuters

Three victims and a suspect were killed on Wednesday during an active shooter incident at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, according to police.

“According to our investigators at the scene, we have three deceased victims and one additional victim in critical condition at a local hospital,” Las Vegas Metropolitan Police said in an update on Wednesday evening.

Earlier, police officers responded to a “confirmed active shooter” in a building at the University of Nevada, said the university on social media Wednesday, while officials later said the suspect died.

The university, known as UNLV, sent the alert just before 12 p.m. local time that notified students and staff of a reported shooting. Police later said the suspect was dead and that there were three victims, although the injuries are not clear.

“No more threat to the community. The suspect is deceased. Right now, we know there are 3 victims, but unknown extent of the injuries. That number could change. We will update you when we know more,” Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department Sheriff Kevin McMahill said on social media.

The shooter was at the Beam Hall, Frank and Estella Building, home of UNLV’s Lee Business School, and police were responding to an additional report of shots fired at the nearby student union, the school wrote. “University Police responding to a report of shots fire in [Beam Hall] evacuate to a safe area, RUN-HIDE-FIGHT,” the university alert read.

Mr. McMahill, the sheriff, said Wednesday at a news conference that the shooter’s motive isn’t clear.

“I don’t want to give you false information and tell you how many victims that we have, but we will be providing that update very, very shortly,” he said. “This is still a very active and dynamic scene,” Mr. McMahill added. “So if you could avoid the area, we would appreciate it.”

The Las Vegas Harry Reid International Airport saw flight impacts due to a “security incident” that was not disclosed, said the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in an alert Wednesday.

The Biden administration is monitoring the reported shooting “very closely,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters Wednesday during a press briefing.

“I just was told about the shooting. Obviously, we’re going to continue to monitor what’s currently occurring. I don’t want to get ahead of what local enforcements are probably dealing with at this time,” Ms. Jean-Pierre said.

President Joe Biden was previously scheduled to visit Las Vegas on Friday to deliver remarks.

Nevada Gov. Joe Lombardo wrote in a post on X that his office is in contact with local Las Vegas officials. “If you are on campus, please continue to follow their instructions as the campus is evacuated,” he wrote on the platform.

Notably, Las Vegas was the site of the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history when 60 people were killed and hundreds more were wounded near the Mandalay Bay casino on Oct. 1, 2017. FBI files that were released in April claimed that the suspect, Stephen Paddock, was angry about how casinos treated him

Since the shooting, few details have been provided about Mr. Paddock, and officials have established a motive in the case. The FBI documents released at the time also did not provide any information about why the 64-year-old suspect targeted a country music concert instead of shooting up the Mandalay Bay casino if he was angry about the way he and other gamblers were being allegedly treated.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.