Three people have been killed after a gunman ran amok at a university in Las Vegas last night.
The incident at the University of Nevada Las Vegas (UNLV) a short distance from the gambling hub’s tourist-packed Strip.
CNN and the Los Angeles Times, quoting law enforcement sources, said the shooting suspect was a 67-year-old suspect career college professor with links to schools in Georgia and North Carolina.
“Three of the victims are confirmed deceased,” Las Vegas Sheriff Kevin McMahill told a press conference.
He said a fourth victim had been critically injured by the shooting but that condition was later upgraded to stable.
US President Joe Biden in a statement decried the latest “horrific act of gun violence” to terrorise a college campus.
Police responded within minutes to reports of an active shooter at 11.45am local time (7.45pm Irish time), Sheriff McMahill told a press conference.
Two officers “immediately engaged the suspect in a shootout” and the suspect “was struck and is deceased at this time,” said university police chief Adam Garcia.
The incident began as an outdoor gathering of students was taking place.
“Students were playing games and eating food, there were tables set up for them to build Legos,” said Sheriff McMahill.
“If it hadn’t been for the heroic actions of one of those police officers who responded, there could have been countless additional lives taken.”
Police did not provide any further information on the identities of the victims or gunman, and are in the process of notifying next-of-kin.
One woman told local broadcaster KVVU that she had heard a series of loud noises and fled into a building on the campus, from which she was later evacuated by police.
