Gunman surrenders after fatal shooting on Las Vegas Strip

Las Vegas (US), March 26

The gunman in a fatal shooting on the Las Vegas Strip who barricaded himself inside a public bus has surrendered peacefully after shutting down the busy tourism corridor for hours, police said.

The standoff began about 11 am yesterday with a shooting that killed one person and injured another. It happened on a double-decker bus stopped on Las Vegas Boulevard near the Cosmopolitan hotel-casino.

Two people were taken to the hospital after the shooting, University Medical Center spokeswoman Danita Cohen said. One died, and the other was in fair condition, Cohen said. That person suffered minor injuries, police said.

Las Vegas Police officer Larry Hadfield said just before 3:30 pm that the man had a handgun and surrendered without incident. Police did not open fire. Crisis negotiators, robots and armored vehicles were on the scene.

Police said they believe the man is the only suspect and that they have ruled out terrorism or any relationship to an earlier robbery nearby that shut down a part of the Bellagio hotel-casino.

The casino properties in the area had been cooperating by keeping people from exiting through their front doors onto the Strip, Hadfield said. The boulevard will remain closed until further notice as investigators clean up the scene.

Former NBA player Scot Pollard who is staying at the Cosmopolitan told The Associated Press by phone that he was at a bar at the hotel-casino around 11 am when he saw several people, including staff, running through the area toward the casino and repeatedly screaming “get out of the way.” After he was told that the area would be closed, he went back to his room, which oversees the Strip.

“We can hear them negotiating. We can hear them saying things like ‘No one else needs to get hurt,’ ‘Come out with your hands up. We are not going anywhere. We are not leaving.’ “

The bus is operated by the Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada. — AP