LAS VEGAS, Nev. (FOX5) – FOX5 learned the identity of the fourth victim in the UNLV campus shooting.
Dec. 6 last year, three professor’s lives were taken by a gunman: Naoko Takemaru, 69, 64-year-old professor Cha Jan Chang, known as “Jerry,” and 39-year-old associate professor Patricia Navarro Velez.
MORE: 3rd victim of shooting at UNLV identified by coroner’s office
For nine months, the fourth shooting victim has gone unidentified until a Tuesday UNLV town hall meeting. President Whitfield and Provost Heavey welcomed and recognized professor Daraboth “Bot” Rith and his wife, Dimanche.
Officials say Rith is an economics professor in the Lee Business School.
Rith and his wife chose to share their story through university communications. Dimanche works as a business manager in online education for UNLV.
Las Vegas police officers Jake Noriega and Ty Vesperas provided medical care and transported Rith to a nearby ambulance to help save his life. He was shot ten times that day.
“These cops saved my life,” Rith said. “Without them, I could be gone. I feel that I owe gratitude, immense gratitude, for the service they do to save people’s lives.”
In a university article, it says Rith spent nearly three months in a hospital recovering with his wife and daughter. He was only in Las Vegas for about a year when the shooting occurred.
He finished his doctorate at Suffolk University when offered the job in Jan. 2023 as a visiting professor.
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