Three people died and six others were injured near Las Vegas Strip today (Thursday) after a gunman in a black Range Rover opened fire on a Maserati, causing it to crash into a taxi that subsequently caught fire.
According to the police the incident happened at 4:20 a.m. at a stoplight on Las Vegas Boulevard, when someone in a black Range Rover fired into a Maserati that also had stopped at the light, Las Vegas police said. The Maserati moved into the intersection and collided with a taxi, starting a chain of crashes that involved four other vehicles. Fire swept through the taxi, where the driver and a passenger were trapped.
The attack, Police said, resulted from an earlier confrontation at an unspecified casino which spilled over into Vegas streets.
"This doesn't happen where we come from, not on this scale," said Mark Thompson, who was visiting from Manchester, England, with his wife. "We get stabbings, and gang violence, but this is like something out of a movie. Like `Die Hard' or something."
Police said they were contacting authorities in three neighboring states about the Range Rover Sport with dark tinted windows, distinctive black custom rims and paper dealer ads in place of license plates that fled the scene about 4:20 a.m.
The taxi's two occupants and the Maserati's driver died, Las Vegas Police spokesman Jose Hernandez said. A passenger in the Maserati suffered gunshot wounds and was being treated at a hospital, police said, while at least two other people in the other vehicles suffered light to moderate injuries, they said.
The incident happened on the crossroads with several major hotel-casinos, including Bellagio, Caesars Palace and Bally's.
Police in Southern California and California Highway Patrol in at least three counties are on the lookout for the SUV.
