Kristin Marshburn: UNLV shooter Anthony Polito accused by student of making 'bold remark' about her outfit

NEVADA, LAS VEGAS: The professor who shot and killed three people at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas last week had resigned from another university after a female student accused him of making a sexual remark about her appearance.

When Anthony Polito made the comment in 2016, Kristin Marshburn said she was seated in the front row of his business course at East Carolina University in Greenville, North Carolina.

Student informed business school dean about a controversial remark

The 28-year-old Marshburn told NBC News, "He told me that if I wore a shirt that low cut for the rest of the semester, I'd be sure to get an A."

The "bold comment," according to Marshburn of Wilmington, North Carolina, startled her along with a few of the approximately thirty-five other students—mostly men—in Polito's supply chain management course that autumn.

"I remember their faces just being appalled," she stated. "They looked sad for me."

Marshburn said she informed the dean of the business school about the incident the same day.

After working in the marketing and supply chain management department at ECU since 2001, Polito resigned from his tenured associate professor post a few months later, in January 2017, according to the university.

It's unclear if his departure had anything to do with the remark he made to Marshburn in the middle of her junior year's fall semester. Marshburn reported Polito, and he never came back to class, she said.

Anthony Polito is accused of destroying his reputation

Requests for comment regarding Polito's resignation circumstances were not immediately answered by an ECU representative, who stated that a public records request had to be made for any prospective disciplinary records.

As of Monday, NBC News had submitted the request and was still awaiting a response.

In previously published ramblings that NBC News examined on the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine, which preserves web pages, Polito accused ECU's upper management of ruining his reputation and costing him his career.

He also mentioned a student who, in his words, assisted those in higher positions in rationalizing their actions against him.

Sheriff Kevin McMahill of the Las Vegas Metro Police Department stated last week that Polito, 67, possessed a "target list" that included the names of UNLV and ECU faculty members.

Polito applied for a teaching position at UNLV in 2020 but was not hired; on December 6, he killed three faculty members there, according to the authorities.

Polito also hurt a visiting professor, but according to the police, none of the victims were on his hit list. It is unknown what specifically motivated the attack.

What do authorities say?

According to the authorities, Polito applied for several positions in the higher education system of Nevada but was turned down each time. According to the police, there was an eviction notice on the front door of the apartment, indicating that he was having financial difficulties.

He was shot dead by a police officer after the shooting that killed three.

When Marshburn informed the dean about the classroom incident in 2016, she also mentioned that she was dissatisfied with Polito's unconventional teaching style, pointing out that he would frequently stray from the course material and instead focus on Las Vegas.

She said, "I did not learn one thing about supply chain management."

Following the shooting, Marshburn is the second woman to come forward and claim that Polito made them feel uneasy while they were students.

The other woman, who wished to remain anonymous, had previously told NBC News that Polito followed her around for almost a whole semester, buying her gifts and corresponding with her virtually daily via text and email.

“I felt preyed upon,” she said.

When Polito asked her to go to Las Vegas during her senior year in 2012, the 32-year-old Durham, North Carolina resident said that he had crossed the line from being a mentor to her.

The woman remarked, “I think that’s about when I was like, ‘I have to cut this man off because he got the wrong idea.’"

She claimed that because Polito was well-liked on campus, she found the whole situation strange, she never considered filing a report on him. She described, “It was just so bizarre.”

Polito, known for his eccentric and popular behavior, was criticized for his frequent trips to Sin City and his membership in Mensa, a high-IQ organization.

Polito, who smoked Virginia Slims cigarettes and wore suspenders and fancy cufflinks, was criticized for his intelligence and lack of payment for dues.

The ECU administration was praised for addressing Polito's complaint, promoting a culture of safety and trust, and urging other women to speak up against sexual comments or inappropriate behavior in authority positions.