Cops responding to the mass shooting at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, confused the insane gunman for a bystander and pushed him to run – only moments before a confrontation with cops outside, according to newly revealed bodycam footage.
After the tragic Dec. 6 shooting, one Las Vegas cop can be seen shouting at angry professor Anthony Polito from a second-floor balcony at the school, “Get out, get out!”
Polito, 67, who was dressed in a long, black trench coat with one hand visible at his side, said nothing as he strolled by, heading for the door and his final gunfight with police.
The split-second sighting is hidden in more than five hours of bodycam video released this week by the Las Vegas Metro Police Department from the massacre that killed three UNLV professors and injured another.
Cops can be seen rushing the campus shortly after shots were fired about 11:45 a.m., going through stairwells and hallways in search of the active shooter.
“Be careful, be careful,” one cop warns. “Do not rush.
“Watch the doors,” he urged as they proceeded along one corridor with alarms blaring in the background. “Keep an eye on the doors… He’s still around. Take care. He’s still around.”
At one point, a cop reports that “the suspect is down,” yet the vast complex is still being searched, with staffers and children occasionally spotted cowering in classrooms.
During one tense encounter, an officer informs another, “I have a lot of bodies in here.” Every single f-king floor.”
Police stated three UNLV educators were slain in the shooting rampage: Naoko Takemaru, 69, Cha Jan “Jerry” Chang, 64, and Patricia Navarro Velez, 39.
The professor, 38, who was injured, has not been identified.
Polito raced onto the school armed with a 9-millimeter handgun and nine magazines holding more than 150 shots, according to Clark County Sheriff Kevin McMahill.According to WPLG-TV News, the gunman had been turned down for a teaching post at the school and was “struggling financially” — and had a “target list” of UNLV faculty members.
County Undersheriff Andrew Walsh told the Associated Press that detectives had a run-in with Polito while investigating the campus building but had no idea he was the murderer.
“They don’t have a description of the shooter at the time,” he said. “And they know there are other police sources on the first floor.”
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