A suspect who shot dead three faculty members at the University of Nevada’s Las Vegas campus resigned from a tenured university position after making sexual comments about a female student’s appearance.
Anthony Polito, 67, was shot dead by police after he went on a shooting spree at UNLV on 6 December, killing three and wounding a fourth person, according to the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department.
In January 2017, Polito abruptly resigned from East Carolina University (ECU) in Greenville, North Carolina, where he had worked in college’s College of Business for 16 years, the university said in a statement.
Kristin Marshburn had been sitting in the front row of Polito’s supply chain management class a few months earlier when he walked in and made a sleazy remark about her clothing.
“He said to me that if I wore a shirt that low cut for the rest of the semester, I’d be sure to get an A,” Ms Marshburn, 28, told NBC News.
She said the comment left her classmates stunned and appalled, and she reported it to the business school’s dean the same day.
Ms Marshburn told the organisation site that Polito didn’t return to the class after the complaint was made, but it’s unclear if this incident led to his departure.
Kristin Marshburn says that UNLV gunman made sexually explicit remarks to her at East Carolina University in 2016— (Kristin Marshburn / Instagram)
An ECU spokesperson told The Independent they were bound by state privacy laws from releasing any information about disciplinary actions against Polito.
“Anthony Polito began employment Aug. 13, 2001, as an assistant professor in the Department of Marketing and Supply Chain Management in the College of Business, East Carolina University. He resigned from ECU on Jan. 17, 2017, as tenured associate professor,” the ECU spokesperson said.
Another former student told NBC News last week that Polito had bombarded her with unwanted emails, texts and gifts during a semester in 2012.
“I felt preyed upon,” the woman said.
Antony Polito has been identified as the gunman— (Antony Polito website)
Polito is believed to have sent 22 letters to university staff across the country, at least one of which contained “an unknown white powder”, before the shooting.
Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department sheriff Kevin McMahill told media last week that Polito had a “target list” of potential victims which included faculty members at UNLV and ECU.
Polito had claimed that ECU leadership were to blame for destroying his reputation and career on his personal website, according to a review by NBC News.
He also reportedly blamed an unnamed student for helping the college take action against him.
Polito had also worked at colleges in Georgia and North Carolina, where former students recalled him as an “eccentric” but popular professor who had “peculiar ways of working”.
Polito’s victims have been identified as UNLV assistant professor Patricia Navarro-Velez, 39, Dr Cha Jan Chang, 64, and Dr Naoko Takemaru.
