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Wrecked cars are seen on Las Vegas Boulevard and Flamingo Avenue as police investigate a shooting and multi-car accident that left three people dead on the Las Vegas Strip. REUTERS/Las Vegas Sun/Steve Marcus |
Three people died on the Las Vegas strip when gunmen in a
Range Rover sport utility vehicle opened fire on a Maserati,
killing the driver and touching off a fiery multi-car crash.
The driver of the Maserati was slain in the pre-dawn shooting
onThursday (local time), and his car collided with a taxi
carrying two people, Las Vegas Metropolitan Police spokesman
Officer Jose Hernandez said.
The cab exploded into flames in the intersection of Las Vegas
Boulevard and Flamingo Road in front of several casino
resorts, killing the driver and a passenger.
"They were trapped inside the taxi and tragically both lost
their lives," Hernandez said.
The gunfire and collision in the busy intersection near the
Bellagio and Caesar's Palace hotels triggered another crash
involving four other vehicles that left at least four people
injured, Hernandez said.
"There was a loud bang and I hear two other booms. I looked
out my window at Caesars Palace ... and could see the
fireball," witness John Lamb was quoted as saying on the news
website of Las Vegas KLAS-TV's 8News Now.
Hernandez said investigators had not yet established a motive
for the shooting or determined how many occupants of the
Range Rover had opened fire on the Maserati.
The Range Rover sped from the scene. Hernandez said police
had no leads on the suspects or their vehicle and were asking
for help from the public. The intersection was expected to
remain closed for much of Thursday due to the investigation.
An injured passenger in the Maserati and three people hurt in
the crashes were taken to University Medical Center.
A hospital spokeswoman said three of the people had been
treated and released. She declined to provide information
about the fourth person.
The incident occurred not far from where rapper Tupac Shakur
was shot in September 1996 while riding in a BMW being driven
by Death Row Records co-founder Marion "Suge" Knight.
Shakur, 25, was hit by gunfire from at least one assailant in
a Cadillac while sitting in Knight's car at the intersection
of Flamingo Road and Koval Lane and died six days later at
University Medical Center. The crime remains unsolved.
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