LAS VEGAS (AP) — Visitors to the heart of the Las Vegas Strip have found police tape blocking a key intersection today, after early morning gunfire and a fiery car crash left three people dead and at least six injured.
Police believe there was an altercation at a casino -- after which someone in an SUV opened fire on a Maserati, sending it crashing into a taxi that burst into flames. The driver and passenger in the taxi were killed, along with the driver of the Maserati.
The SUV left the scene. Authorities in three neighboring states are being alerted to look for it.
One man visiting from England said, "This doesn't happen where we come from, not on this scale." He said it was "like something out of a movie." Another man said, "When you're out at 4 a.m., nothing good's going to happen."
The episode near Bellagio and Caesar's Palace marked the latest violence on the Strip since the beginning of the year. Two people were critically wounded in a shooting at a parking garage earlier this month, and a tourist was stabbed Saturday in an elevator at a hotel.
But a spokesman for the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority says they were "isolated events" and that Las Vegas is "among the safest travel destinations in the world."
%@AP Links
222-w-36-(John Shaffer (SHAY'-fur), correspondent, with Sergeant John Sheahan, spokesman, Las Vegas Police Department)--A fight at a hotel may have led to a deadly shooting in the streets of Las Vegas. Correspondent John Shaffer reports. ((This cut replaces cut 201, which contains an outdated reference to the number injured.)) (21 Feb 2013)
<<CUT *222 (02/21/13)>> 00:36
191-a-14-(Sgt. John Sheahan (SHEE'-han), public information officer, Las Vegas police, in AP interview)-"in that corridor"-Las Vegas Police Sergeant John Sheahan says investigators think the people in the SUV and the Maserati had some kind of altercation up the road from the shooting scene. (21 Feb 2013)
<<CUT *191 (02/21/13)>> 00:14 "in that corridor"
192-a-12-(Sgt. John Sheahan (SHEE'-han), public information officer, Las Vegas police, in AP interview)-"able to escape"-Las Vegas police Sergeant John Sheahan says investigators are trying to figure out why the cab exploded and burned so fast. (21 Feb 2013)
<<CUT *192 (02/21/13)>> 00:12 "able to escape"
APPHOTO NVLAS107: Law enforcement personal investigate the scene of a mulit-vehicle accident on Las Vegas Blvd. and Flamingo Road Thursday, Feb. 21, 2013. Authorities say a Range Rover opened fire on a Maserati at a stoplight, sending it crashing into a taxi that went up in flames, leaving three people dead and at least six injured. Police were checking with nearby businesses to see whether a previous altercation prompted the car-to-car attack (AP Photo/Las Vegas Review-Journal, Jeff Scheid) LOCAL TV OUT; LOCAL INTERNET OUT; LAS VEGAS SUN OUT (21 Feb 2013)
<<APPHOTO NVLAS107 (02/21/13)>>
APPHOTO NVLAS102: Law enforcement personal investigate the scene of a mulit-vehicle accident on Las Vegas Blvd. and Flamingo Road Thursday, Feb. 21, 2013. Authorities say a Range Rover opened fire on a Maserati at a stoplight, sending it crashing into a taxi that went up in flames, leaving three people dead and at least six injured. Police were checking with nearby businesses to see whether a previous altercation prompted the car-to-car attack (AP Photo/Las Vegas Review-Journal, Jeff Scheid) LOCAL TV OUT; LOCAL INTERNET OUT; LAS VEGAS SUN OUT (21 Feb 2013)
<<APPHOTO NVLAS102 (02/21/13)>>
