Las Vegas shooting: A person opened fire on the University of Nevada, Las Vegas campus, and at least three victims were taken to hospitals on Wednesday. According to police, the shooter was found dead. “Right now, we know there are 3 victims, but the unknown extent of the injuries,” Sheriff Kevin McMahill said in a post on X, formerly Twitter. “That number could change.” McMahill did not say whether any victims had been killed.

Alerts went out across the campus after callers reported an active shooter to police at 11:45 a.m., said Adam Garcia, a university police official. He said officers found and “engaged” a suspect, who is now dead. It was not immediately clear how the suspect died. Students and professors on the campus of 30,000 barricaded themselves inside classrooms and dorm rooms.

Students recall horrific situations on the university campus

Student John Harris heard what he later realized was a gunshot as he was getting out of his car in the parking garage of an on-campus apartment complex. In the elevator, Harris got an emergency text alert text from the university.

“I wasn’t sure what to believe,” said Harris, 21, who ended up sheltering at a friend’s dorm. “But as I came down to the street, and I saw there were a bunch of cops in the parking lot at the student union, I knew what I heard was a gunshot and this wasn’t a drill.”

Suspect in the mass shooting killed 

Las Vegas police posted on X that a suspect “has been located and is deceased” about 40 minutes after the initial alert was posted. Students and the community were alerted to the emergency by a university post on X.

“This is not a test,” the university wrote. “RUN-HIDE-FIGHT.” Student Matthew Felsenfeld said he and about 12 classmates barricaded their door in a building near the student union. “It’s the moment you call your parents and tell them you love them,” said Felsenfeld, a 21-year-old journalism student.

He said he didn’t hear gunfire or see anyone injured but said he saw out the windows as police staged to enter the neighbouring building. a short while later, police came and ushered them out.

Biden reacts to University of Nevada shooting

Meanwhile, President Joe Biden, in a social media post, denounced the killings and said, “The epidemic of gun violence we face demands that we do more, but we can’t without Congress.”

“And just hours ago, the University of Nevada at Las Vegas became the latest college campus to be terrorized by a horrific act of gun violence, and the community is still awaiting information on casualties,” he wrote.  

“Together, we must do more to prevent more families and communities like Austin, San Antonio, and Las Vegas, from being ripped apart by gun violence,” he added.

The shooting occurred in a city still scarred by one of the worst mass killings in US history, the Oct. 1, 2017, mass shooting at the Mandalay Bay casino in Las Vegas, in which 60 were killed and hundreds more wounded. The UNLV campus is just over 5 kilometres from that location.

(With inputs from agencies)

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