University shooting suspect’s laminated target cards revealed
The man who shot and killed three faculty members at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, and injured another last month reportedly was carrying a laminated card detailing his targets, according to a report.
A confidential investigative synopsis compiled by the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department first obtained by ABC News revealed that Anthony Polito was carrying a blood-stained, laminated index card containing the job titles and room numbers of his intended targets on the day of the shooting.
The cards contained employee photos of the intended victims of the mass shooting as well as insulting comments.
Cha Jan Chang, a business professor, Partricia Navarro Velez, an assistant account professor, and Naoko Takemaru, an associate professor of Japanese studies, were killed in the attack.
Polito ultimately died at the scene of the shooting after a shoot-out with responding police officers. Police arrived approximately 10 minutes after the first shots were reported at the university.
Before the attack, Polito allegedly sent approximately 22 letters containing white powder to university workers across the county, according to investigators. All of the recipients were people working in fields related to his academic background, with the one exception being a vehicle insurance claims supervisor.
The letters addressed to women included derogatory comments and sexual allegations, according to the report.
Police believe an inferiority complex — exacerbated by his apparent inability to land a job or find acceptance at colleges — motivated Polito's attack. His personal website was reportedly full of delusions of grandeur and proclamations celebrating his intelligence, investigators said.
Investigators reported that Polito was using a legally purchased handgun on the day he attacked the campus, and that he was carrying more than 150 rounds of ammunition.
911 calls from the day of the attack captured the terror on the campus the day of the attack.
"Someone’s shooting inside the office," a woman who reported the gunfire told dispatchers. "Please hurry."
Another caller said they had just gotten off an elevator when they heard gunshots and screaming.
"I was getting off the elevator. I heard shots fired and screaming and I ran ... Lots of students are running out ... Two officers ran into the building and I ran out of the building," they said on the call, ABC News reports.