LAS VEGAS, Nevada (FOX5) — Anyone entering UNLV’s Beam Hall will notice no evidence of the deadly shooting in December 2023.
Many damaged doors have been repaired and new security measures may be difficult to detect. UNLV officials say it was intentional to leave Beam Hall in its pre-shooting condition.
“We don’t know what things might trigger people,” said Musa Pam, UNLV’s vice president for facilities management.
School leaders expressed concerns about student safety and mental health after Beam Hall opened to the public for the first time on Monday. Students will return there on April 26 for the fall semester.
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“Of course, the murder of the three faculty members will still be on our minds. But I think the best way we can honor them is to put this building into operation and serve our students as we have since I arrived here in 1989,” said John Zimmerman, associate professor of accounting at UNLV.
Zimmerman entered his workplace after faculty members had been killed and injured. He didn’t know about it at the time. When he found out, he left the building around the same time UNLV police shot and killed the gunman. The gunman, according to authorities, was angry because he had been turned down for positions at UNLV and other colleges across the country.
Zimmerman commemorates all the faculty members who were killed, including Patricia Navarro-Velez.
“You never forget. I think about her every day, every single day,” Zimmerman said.
Campus police and faculty members implemented the new security measures, which have now been implemented to make students feel safer. The public no longer has free access to faculty offices on the third through fifth floors, where faculty members were killed. Anyone using the elevators or stairs will need a key card to access the upper floors.
Brand new phones have now been installed in classrooms. They will emit a loud sound in the event of an emergency on campus. The phones will tell people what is happening based on what authorities know at the time and provide instructions on what to do in the event of an emergency. Officials say the phones are in Beam Hall classrooms and there is discussion about installing them in other UNLV buildings as well.
UNLV Police also announced a stronger presence of police officers and private security forces, which has already been implemented.
“The other big investment we’ve made is in locks. We want to give teachers and students in the classroom a very, very easy way to secure themselves,” said UNLV President Keith Whitfield.
“I want students to know that we are a safe campus. This is an island of safety. And we want them to feel safe and not have to worry about their safety. We are here to provide that for them,” said Arnold Vasquez, interim director of the University Police Department.
The following UNLV faculty members were killed in the shooting: Professor Cha Jan “Jerry” Chang (64), Assistant Professor Patricia Navarro-Velez (39), and Associate Professor Naoko Takemaru (69).
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