UNLV suspected shooter identified: Sources

(LAS VEGAS) — Multiple law enforcement sources tell ABC News the deceased suspect in the University of Nevada, Las Vegas shooting is Anthony Polito, 67.

Polito, the sources say, had applied for a college professorship at UNLV, but was not hired. He has ties to North Carolina and Georgia, where he previously worked as a college professor.

Polito was armed with a handgun during Wednesday’s attack. Police say he was killed in a shootout with two police detectives who responded to the active shooting scene.

Detectives have been working into the night and plan on continuing their investigation through the overnight hours.

A law enforcement official briefed on the probe said one apartment in Henderson, Nevada — believed to be the shooter’s home — is currently being searched. Detectives have also retrieved the suspect’s phone and are now feverishly examining its contents for clues about what motivated the killer to mount his alleged attack Wednesday.

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.

Investigators have now determined that the victims killed were not students, but faculty or staff. That suggests to detectives that the rampage may not have been random, but may have been an attack that targeted certain people because of some sort of previous relationship or interactions.

According to preliminary investigative information, the gunman fired on police, which is what led them to shoot him.

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