UNLV shooting live updates: At least 3 victims reported after shooting in University of Nevada

In a statement shared with The Independent, the president of national gun violence organisation Brady, said students at the UNLV campus would feel the “ripple effects” of Wednesday’s events for “the rest of their lives”.

“Just as our nation hit a devastating record for mass shootings this year, students at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas – who have been subject to active shooter drills since childhood – will feel the ripple effects of today for the rest of their lives,” said Kris Brown.

“We should not accept a reality where an entire generation of Americans are defined by the constant threat of gun violence.

“America’s children are being gunned down at an alarming rate, and firearms are now the number one cause of death for our kids. How many more of our children have to be shot or irrecoverably traumatized by gun violence before we alter America’s relationship with firearms?”

Ms Brown continued: “UNLV is just a stone’s throw away from the site of the 2017 Las Vegas massacre, the deadliest mass shooting in American history.

“Our thoughts are with the students and the Las Vegas community, and we hope for the future of our country that change will come.”

The UNLV campus is just a short distance from the site of the 2017 mass shooting at the Mandalay Bay Hotel.

The shooting, during which 64-year-old Stephen Paddock opend fire on a concert crowd, killed 60 people. The incident was the deadliest mass shooting by a single gunman in US history.

Paddock fired more than 1,000 rounds from the window of his 32nd floor suites at the hotel. He also injured around 413 people.

He was later found dead in his hotel room.

The shooting at UNLV, which left four dead including the suspect, marks the 80th US school shooting this year.

Of those, 51 shootings have been reported on K-12 campuses and 29 on university and college campuses, according to the outlet. This figure includes the latest shooting in Las Vegas on the UNLV campus.

In his remarks, president Joe Biden highlighted that in 2023 the country had experienced more than 600 mass shootings, and approximately 40,000 deaths due to gun violence.

“This is not normal, and we can never let it become normal,” he said.

The number of students on campus at the time of the shooting wasn’t immediately clear. Out of a total of 30,000 enrolled students, a number had gathered outside the building to eat and play games, said Sheriff Kevin McMahill.If police hadn’t killed the attacker, “it could have been countless additional lives taken,” he said.

“No student should have to fear pursuing their dreams on a college campus,” the sheriff said.

In response to the campus shootings, the Federal Aviation Administration issued a ground stop of all flights coming into Harry Reid International Airport. The university is roughly 2 miles north of the airport.

Classes were cancelled through Friday at the university, and UNLV’s basketball game at the University of Dayton, Ohio, was cancelled on Wednesday night because of the shootings.

The shooting occurred just miles from the location of the deadliest mass shooting in modern US history. In the 1 October 2017 massacre, a gunman opened fire from a high-rise suite at the Mandalay Bay, killing 60 people attending a music festival below and wounding hundreds more.

Students and the community were first alerted to the emergency by a University of Nevada, Las Vegas post on X that warned: “This is not a test. RUN-HIDE-FIGHT.”

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 Mr Felsenfeld, a 21-year-old journalism student.

Another student, Jordan Eckermann, 25, said he was in his business law class in a second-floor classroom when he heard a loud bang that he thought came from a neighbouring music class.

But then a piercing alarm went off, sending students to their feet. Some ran from the room in panic while others heeded their professor’s instructions to stay calm, said Eckermann.

He walked out and locked eyes with a law enforcement officer in a bulletproof vest holding a long gun. Clothing, backpacks and water bottles lay scattered on the floor.

Mr Eckerman said he mouthed to the officer, “Where do I go?”The officer pointed to an exit.

Minutes later, when he was outside, Mr Eckermann said he heard bursts of gunshots, totaling at least 20 rounds. The air smelled of gun powder. He said he kept walking away from campus, even though he didn’t know where to go.

Professor Kevaney Martin took cover under a desk in her classroom, where another faculty member and three students took shelter with her.“It was terrifying.

I can’t even begin to explain,” Ms Martin said.

“I was trying to hold it together for my students, and trying not to cry, but the emotions are something I never want to experience again.”

Ms Martin said she was texting friends and loved ones, hoping to receive word a suspect had been detained. When another professor came to the room and told everyone to evacuate, they joined dozens of others rushing out of the building. Ms Martin had her students pile into her car and drove them off campus.

“Once we got away from UNLV, we parked and sat in silence,” she said. “Nobody said a word. We were in utter shock.”

Official details of the shooting remain sketchy.

According to Sheriff Kevin McMahill of LVMPD, the shooting began on the fourth floor of Beam Hall, a building that houses the university’s business school. It then moved to other floors before finally ending outside where the suspect was “neutralised.”

However, UNLV police chief Adam Garcia told reporters that after receiving a call reporting gunfire on campus at about 11.45am (7.45pm GMT), law enforcement “immediately engaged the suspect in a shootout”. He said the suspect was fatally shot by campus police.

Vincent Perez, a professor at the school, told MSNBC by phone that he had heard a lot of gunfire before taking cover on campus.

“I would say just seven, eight shots, one after another, loud and very loud,” he said. “As soon as we heard that, we ran back inside and we realised this is a real shooting, and there’s an active shooter on campus.”

The man suspected of fatally shooting three people and wounding another at a Las Vegas university on Wednesday was a professor who unsuccessfully sought a job at the school, a law enforcement official with direct knowledge of the investigation told The Associated Press.

The gunman was killed in a shootout with law enforcement, police said.

The attack at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas sent shock waves through a city still scarred by the deaths of 60 people in a 2017 mass shooting.

The suspect previously worked at East Carolina University in North Carolina, according to the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorised to release the information publicly.

Police didn’t immediately identify the gunman, the victims or a possible motive.

According to analysis by CNN, Wednesday’s shooting – in which three people have been confirmed dead – marks the 80th US school shooting this year.

Of those, 51 shootings have been reported on K-12 campuses and 29 on university and college campuses, according to the outlet.

This figure includes the latest shooting in Las Vegas on the UNLV campus.