[3] Anthony "Tony" Polito arrived at the UNLV campus at around 11:30 a.m. PST and was armed with a legally purchased Taurus 9mm handgun and 11 loaded magazines.
[4][5] Fifteen minutes later, the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department received a call about a shooter in the Frank and Estella Beam Hall.
[7] Eight minutes later, UNLV posted a Twitter message that police were responding to reports of gunshots, warning students at the Beam Hall to "evacuate to a safe area."
[9][10] He was shot six times in the face, neck, chest, abdomen, elbow, and leg, and an autopsy found that he had erectile dysfunction medication and oxycodone in his system.
[15] According to his former employers, Polito resigned from East Carolina University as a tenured associate professor, and lost his job at Roseman when the school discontinued the Master of Business Administration program in which he taught.
[20] Polito maintained a "target list" of people against whom he was seeking retribution, including colleagues from his former employer, East Carolina University.
[15] Polito was very active on social media, with online writings showing an interest in Las Vegas, the state of Nevada and conspiracy theories.
[3] By December 8, UNLV President Keith Whitfield had announced that in-person classes for the rest of 2023 and the semester finals were canceled, due to the physical and emotional trauma that the campus had suffered.
[31] The Mayor of Las Vegas, Carolyn Goodman, called the shooting "tragic and heartbreaking" in a tweet, stating that she was "praying for everyone on campus as law enforcement responds to the situation.
[33] The president of the American Association of University Professors, Irene Mulvey, issued a statement mourning the victims who died in "senseless violence", and calling for gun reform.
[26] On the day of the shooting, the Vegas Golden Knights stood in a moment of silence prior to their game against the St. Louis Blues at T-Mobile Arena.
[35] The Las Vegas Raiders observed a moment of silence prior to kickoff during a game against the Minnesota Vikings on December 10, 2023.