Anthony Polito, the 67-year-old accused of a deadly shooting at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV), worked in UNI’s Department of Management for a short period from 2000-2001. 

According to authorities, Polito killed three people and wounded a fourth this Wednesday because he applied for a job at UNLV but was not hired. He was fatally shot by police within minutes of the shooting.

Throughout his career as a professor, he taught at various colleges and universities in North Carolina, Nevada, Georgia and Iowa. 

Hired as a visiting instructor in January 2000 at UNI, he taught for the management department within the College of Business Administration. UNI extended his visiting instructor appointment through the Spring 2001 semester.

After the 2000-2001 school year, Polito left UNI for East Carolina University where he worked for 16 years.

In the two decades since Polito left UNI, no current faculty remember him.

Several of his students, according to RateMyProfessors, enjoyed his classes.

“Dr. Polito’s class is one of my favorite classes that I have taken. He provides so many real-world examples with stories which further drive the understanding of concepts. This isn’t taught as a ‘typical’ class which is looked down on but I have learned so much and retained the concepts in this class than any other class I have taken,” a November 2016 post read.

Another student called him the “best professor at ECU,” according to an October 2016 post.

Others labeled his classes as “unorthodox” and “extremely disorganized,” and said he was “eccentric.” In a post from October 2014, a student wrote that he had spent over two months “just talking about Vegas.”

UNLV President Keith E. Whitefield said in a statement, “Members of our community lost their lives and others were injured. My heart aches for our UNLV family. I know all of us are sending our love and support to the victims, their families, and friends during this difficult time.”