TERRIFIED students recalled being hunched as bullets were flying in the background, shattering windows and glass doors at a college university.
Police received reports of multiple shots fired at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, about 15 minutes away from the Mandalay Bay Resort Casino, at around noon on Wednesday.
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Las Vegas Metropolitan Police said shots were fired in the Beam Hall inside the campus.
The university also reported shots were fired inside the school's Student Union building on the second floor.
Three people were killed in the shooting, Metro Sheriff Kevin McMahill said.
Multiple others were taken to hospitals, authorities said.
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The suspect was named as Anthony Polito, law enforcement sources told ABC News,
Terrified students spoke out about the harrowing incident as Las Vegas police began evacuating the campus.
"We were in the student union on the second floor, and we heard there was an active shooter," a student told CNN after she was evacuated from the building.
"We could hear the gunshots," a second student said.
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"They [police] had guns, we all walked out of the building hands up," a startled student told Fox affiliate KVVU-TV.
'GLASS EVERYWHERE'
The student described emerging from the building to shattered glass across the campus.
"They evacuated us out of the student union. We walked past one of the windows. The windows was shot through, glass everywhere," the student told the outlet.
Three friends were doing a class presentation when they learned about the shooting on campus.
"About 200 kids all in one space," one of the female students said, referring to the students sheltering in the classroom.
"There were also 90 percent windows, not a lot of walls to hide behind, so that was quite concerning."
"A lot of people were panicking, it was very overwhelming, thinking if they got in," another one from the trio added.
A parent told local ABC affiliate KTNV-TV that her daughter was hunkered down in a classroom.
"She just told me right now they're hunkered down in a classroom, in the dark, and just waiting," the distraught mom said.
Another parent told NBC News she ran out of work after hearing about the news at her daughter's school.
"I ran out of work. I came over here, she wasn't answering, her phone was going straight to voicemail, so that was scary," the mother said.
"We came out here, and she finally called and texted, saying they were in a dorm. She was crying, she was hysterical, saying she heard the gunshots, she heard the screaming."
Local NBC affiliate KSNV-TV reporter Brett Forrest was on the campus for a different story when the shooting unfolded.
"People were running into the building we're at and saying there's a shooter and that we had to stay inside," Forrest said, adding that he sheltered in place for about an hour.
"I'm honestly a little shaken by it all... It is disturbing, and it's unfortunate."
President Joe Biden was already set to visit Las Vegas on Friday.
The incident at the university occurred minutes away from the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino, the site of the deadliest shooting by a single gunman in United States history.
On October 1, 2017, Stephen Paddock, 64, opened fire on the crowd attending the Route 91 Harvest Music Festival on the Las Vegas Strip just below the Mandalay Bay resort.
Paddock opened fire from his 32nd-floor suites, killing 60 people and wounding at least 413.
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Federal investigators said Paddock had more than two dozen firearms, including high-powered rifles, and fired more than 1,000 rounds.
A motive for the shooting has never been determined.
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