UNLV building where deadly shooting occurred will reopen in fall semester

The UNLV building where three professors were killed in a shooting last year will reopen amid heightened security for the fall semester, university President Keith Whitfield announced Tuesday.

Beam Hall, Whitfield said, will reopen Aug. 26, for the first time since the Dec. 6, 2023 shooting that also left a visiting professor seriously wounded and the gunman dead.

Additional security measures at the building will include restricted access to the third through fifth floors, a security guard posted in the atrium and additional security cameras, Whitfield said.

Whitfield said the state approved $2.6 million in funding for more security staff at Southern Nevada colleges. The additional money will pay for private security staff to remain on UNLV’S campus through the end of the year, he said.

The shooting, which happened shortly before noon, sent staff and students scrambling for safety.

The university sent out an active-shooter alert on social media advising people to run, fight and hide before law enforcement authorities shot and killed the attacker.

The gunman, identified by Metro Police as Anthony Polito, 67, of Henderson, was a career professor who had unsuccessfully sought a job at UNLV, according to reports. He was killed in a shootout with UNLV Police, authorities said.

Since the shooting, UNLV has created the Rebel Recovery Program, which hosts special events and provides wellness services to students. The university’s next all-hands staff meeting April 15 will provide more updates on the program and campus security, Whitfield said.

The five-story Beam Hall is home to UNLV’S Lee School of Business, the university’s language department and faculty offices and classrooms.

This semester, access to the building is limited to faculty with offices there and students accompanied by those faculty members, according to the university. Spring semester classes that normally take place in Beam Hall have been scheduled elsewhere.