PICTURED: Two of the three University of Nevada Las Vegas mass shooting victims are identified as female assistant professor in accounting department and male business lecturer

The first victims of the horrific University of Nevada mass shooting have been identified as a professor and assistant professor at the college's Las Vegas campus.

Patricia Navarro, 39, a faculty member of the university's accounting department, and professor Cha Jan 'Jerry' Chang, 64, have been named as two of three staff to lose their lives in the shooting on Wednesday. 

Chang's death was ruled as caused by a gunshot wound to the head, while a coroner ruled Navarro died from multiple gunshot wounds, according to 8NewsNow. 

A third victim has reportedly been identified, however they will not be named until their next of kin is informed. 

In a statement, the UNLV said: 'On behalf of the office, our deepest condolences to the families of the victims and those impacted by this tragic event.' 

Navarro and Chang were killed in a horror 40-minute rampage carried out by professor Tony Polito, 67, who did not work at UNLV, but reportedly had applied for a job there and was rejected. 

Navarro was first identified in a heartbreaking Instagram post shared by the California All-Stars Las Vegas Cheer Gym, which said: 'Our hearts are shattered as we share the devastating news of the loss of a beloved member of our Cali family in yesterday's senseless shooting.' 

'Our deepest condolences and prayers go out to the Navarro family during this unimaginably difficult time,' the post said. 

According to her university profile, Navarro achieved a Ph.D. in accounting from the University of Central Florida, and focused her research on 'cybersecurity disclosures and assurance, internal control weakness disclosure, and data analytics.' 

Three people lost their lives in the shooting, while a fourth was shot but is in stable condition, Sheriff Kevin McMahill said at a Wednesday night press conference. 

When the massacre unfolded, a huge police presence including tactical teams were seen scrambling to the college after an alert was issued to students, warning them to 'RUN-HIDE-FIGHT.' 

Less than an hour after the alert was released, the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department announced the suspect was deceased, and footage showed terrified students being gradually escorted out of buildings across the campus. 

The UNLV campus was placed on urgent lockdown as cops hunted for the gunman, while the Harry Reid International Airport - roughly two miles from the shooting - briefly grounded flights in a security precaution. 

Student John Harris heard what he later realized was a gunshot as he was getting out of his car in the parking garage of an on-campus apartment complex. In the elevator, Harris said he got an emergency text alert text from the university.

'I wasn't sure what to believe,' said Harris, 21, who ended up sheltering at a friend's dorm.

He told AP: 'But as I came down to the street, and I saw there were a bunch of cops in the parking lot at the student union, I knew what I heard was a gunshot and this wasn't a drill.'

A witness to Wednesday's attack told Fox News they heard several shots ring out through the campus, before they were evacuated by police.

'(I heard) boom, boom, boom, more shots,' she said. 'So I ran into the basement and I heard shots outside, heard police, and then the police just evacuated me out.

'I had my hands over my head and yeah, I was hearing a lot of shots. I did not know how many shooters there were. I did not really know anything.'

An English professor at UNLV, Vincent Perez, told MSNBC that he heard seven or eight loud gunshots 'one after another', when he looked out across the campus from the balcony of a building.

'We realized this is a real shooting, and there's an active shooter on campus,' he said.

'It just sounded like a high-powered weapon — just echoing, echoing in a way that ... makes you realize this is somebody out to kill people.'