Suspected Las Vegas shooter had sought university job, targeted his victims, sources say

LAS VEGAS — The gunman in a mass shooting that rocked the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, on Wednesday was identified as an academic who was seeking work at the university, according to law enforcement sources familiar with the investigation.

Investigators searched the apartment of Anthony Polito, 67, in Henderson with the aid of a SWAT team Wednesday night, hours after the shooting that left three dead as well as the gunman. He is believed to have targeted at least some of his victims, said one of the sources, who was not authorized to speak publicly about the investigation.

Classes at UNLV were canceled through Sunday as students, faculty and neighbors mourned the tragedy, which came six years after the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history, less than five miles from campus on the Las Vegas Strip.

“This is Route 91 all over again,” said 22-year-old student Olivia Stabile, referencing the 2017 Las at a music festival in which 59 died. “Why Vegas again, out of all places, and then in one of the most defenseless places?”