(LAS VEGAS) — The deceased suspect in the University of Nevada, Las Vegas shooting has been identified as Anthony Polito, 67, multiple law enforcement sources told ABC News Wednesday night. Las Vegas police named Polito as the suspect at a media briefing on Thursday.
Polito had applied for a college professorship at UNLV, but was not hired, sources said.
Polito was armed with a Taurus 9 mm handgun during Wednesday’s on-campus attack in which three people were killed, authorities said. The gun was purchased legally last year, authorities said Thursday afternoon.
Sources said investigators have now determined that the victims killed were faculty or staff, not students. Two of those killed were professors, authorities confirmed on Thursday.
During the investigation, authorities determined that Polito had a list of people “he was seeking” at UNLV and faculty from East Carolina University, Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department Sheriff Kevin McMahill said Thursday. None of the individuals listed on the list were victims in the shooting, he said.
The suspect was killed in a shootout with police detectives who responded to the scene, authorities said. The gunman fired on police, which is what led them to shoot him, according to preliminary investigative information.
Polito earned a master of business administration at Duke University in 1991, and he received a Ph.D. in business administration from the University of Georgia in 2002, according to the universities.
In 2001, Polito started working as an assistant professor at East Carolina University in the College of Business’ Department of Marketing and Supply Chain Management, according to the university. He resigned from ECU in 2017 as a tenured associate professor.
Detectives have retrieved the suspect’s phone and are examining its contents for clues about what motivated the killer to mount his alleged attack.
Police are also combing his professional writings to determine whether something in those texts could shed light on the events that occurred on the UNLV campus.
Authorities said Thursday the suspect was armed with more than 150 rounds of ammunition
ABC News’ Jenny Wagnon Courts and Kate Holland contributed to this report.
Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.