Anthony Polito, the gunman authorities said killed three people Wednesday at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, visited a post office in Henderson and mailed 22 letters to various university personnel across the country with no return address, according to Las Vegas Sheriff Kevin McMahill.
At least one contained a white, powdery substance, he said at a Thursday news conference.
McMahill said investigators are working with the postal inspector and federal partners to process the letters. McMahill indicated they are working to contact the recipients.
Detectives are continuing to process the envelopes and are asking “anyone in the education world” who receives a letter with no return address to “proceed with caution,” McMahill said.
The gunman, who died in a confrontation with police, was a 67-year-old career college professor whose online profile paints a picture of a man fascinated by Vegas, puzzles and conspiracy theories.
McMahill said police are still trying to understand the gunman’s motive behind the shooting, noting Polito applied and was denied “numerous times” for jobs at different Nevada higher education institutions, the sheriff said.
Authorities indicated Polito was struggling financially. When they executed a search warrant at his apartment, an eviction notice was found on the door, McMahill said, noting they found a document he described as similar to a “last will and testament.”
Polito legally purchased the weapon used in the shooting, identified as a Taurus PT92 pistol, in Las Vegas about 18 months ago, a law enforcement source told CNN. Polito brought 11 magazines to the scene and had nine loaded magazines on his person at the time of the shooting, McMahill said. Police do not know how many rounds he fired, he added.
Authorities found several computers and hard drive components at Polito’s home, along with ammunition consistent with the same cartridges found at the scene and a Taurus box matching the handgun found at the scene, he said.
The Clark County Office of the Coroner/Medical Examiner identified two of the victims as ChaJan Chang, known as “Jerry,” a 64-year-old professor from Henderson, Nevada; and Patricia Navarro Velez, a 39-year-old assistant professor from Las Vegas.
The manner of death for both is classified as homicide. The third victim has been identified and the office is working to identify their next of kin.
Three patients involved in the shooting have been released from the hospital, while one patient remains hospitalized in critical, but stable condition, according to an updated release from Sunrise Hospital and Medical Center spokesperson Marissa Mussi.
No other injuries were reported and the city’s resiliency center is providing support to people on campus affected by the shooting.
What we know about the gunman
Polito’s LinkedIn page listed him as a “semi-retired university professor” in Las Vegas.
Polito had worked for schools in Georgia and North Carolina, his now-removed LinkedIn page showed. His most recent full-time employment was as a business professor at East Carolina University in Greenville until 2017.
His personal website included syllabuses for his past courses but was largely a list of “Resources” with hundreds of links to sites related to his personal interests. While it included ordinary topics like “Travel” and “Shopping,” one section was devoted to “Powerful Organizations Bent on Global Domination!”
It included links to common conspiracy theory fodder like Freemasonry, the Trilateral Commission and “The Rothchild (sic)…
Read More: UNLV gunman sent letters to university personnel across the country before shootings, sheriff says