A man shot and killed three people on Wednesday December 6 on a university campus in Las Vegas, in the western United States. “According to our investigators on site, three victims are dead and another is in critical condition,” police explained on immediately if he was killed by the police or committed suicide. Police have not yet released his identity or the motive for the attack.

The killing occurred just before noon. The police immediately alerted to “preliminary elements indicating a shooter in action on campus” with “several people affected”. The alert system at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, had asked everyone to “evacuate the area”, located 2 kilometers from the famous strip, a thoroughfare known for its casinos.

When police declared the event over, the university asked students and staff on campus to “confine themselves” until “buildings were evacuated one by one.” Students and teachers barricaded themselves in classes and university residences. Classes were canceled for the rest of the day.

A city traumatized by the Mandala Bay massacre in 2017

This drama reopens the wounds of the massacre suffered by Las Vegas in 2017, one of the worst in the history of the United States. A man opened fire from the 32nd floor of the Mandala Bay hotel onto a crowd below attending a country music concert, killing 58 and injuring hundreds, before killing himself.

The United States is paying a very heavy price for the spread of firearms on its territory and the ease with which Americans have access to them. The country has more individual weapons than inhabitants: one in three adults owns at least one and almost one in two adults lives in a home where there is a weapon.

The recurrence of gun violence “is not normal, and we cannot let it become normal,” President Joe Biden said indignantly, recalling the sad assessment made by the Gun Violence Archive site. “This year alone”, this organization, which refers to the United States, has recorded more than 600 attacks resulting in at least four injuries or deaths, and 40,000 deaths caused by firearms – the majority suicides.

The Democratic president once again reiterated his call to ban assault rifles and implement truly systematic background checks on people wishing to purchase a firearm. But without a majority in Congress, where the House of Representatives is dominated by Republicans, this remains wishful thinking.