Smoke and flames billow from a burning vehicle following a shooting and multi-car accident on the Las Vegas Strip in Las Vegas early Thursday, Feb. 21, 2013. The Las Vegas Strip became a scene of deadly violence early Thursday when, authorities say, someone in a black Range Rover opened fire on a Maserati, sending it crashing into a taxi that burst into flames, leaving three people dead and at least six injured. AP
LAS VEGAS—Police searched Friday for a Range Rover that set off a fiery crash in the heart of Las Vegas when someone opened fire on a Maserati in a scene that onlookers described as worthy of an action movie.
Three people were killed early Thursday and at least six more were injured in what marked the latest in a series of violent episodes in the desert city.
The dramatic shooting took place as the vehicles raced toward a red light on the Las Vegas Strip, the city’s main boulevard. Beneath the neon lights, police say, the Maserati ran a red light at a busy intersection and smashed into a taxi that exploded into flames, killing the two people inside.
Three more cars and a utility truck also collided at a crossroads home to several large casinos, leaving at least six more people injured as the Range Rover sped off in the pre-dawn darkness.
The Maserati driver was pronounced dead at the hospital.
The shooting set off a frantic search for the occupants of the Range Rover and marked the latest episode on the Strip since the beginning of the year.
Two people were critically wounded in a shooting at a parking garage on Feb. 6, and a tourist was stabbed last Saturday in an elevator at The Hotel at Mandalay Bay.
Sheriff Doug Gillespie told reporters several hours later that the shooting was sparked by an argument in the valet area of the nearby Aria hotel-casino, and that the violence at the intersection of Las Vegas Boulevard and Flamingo Road did not reflect the values of the residents or visitors to Las Vegas.
“What happened will not be tolerated,” Gillespie said. He promised the shooters would be “found and prosecuted to the full extent of the law.”
On the Strip, the fiery rampage shocked tourists.
“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.
In Southern California, the California Highway Patrol alerted officers in at least three counties to be on the lookout for the sports utility vehicle.
Las Vegas Police Sgt. John Sheahan said the Range Rover was last seen near the Venetian resort as it headed north from the shooting scene on Las Vegas Boulevard.
Witnesses also told police the SUV and Maserati had come from the nearby CityCenter area, the home of Aria just south of the site of the attack. Police said the argument had started in the valet area of the upscale resort.
“We have numerous witnesses to this,” Sheahan said. “But what is the genesis of this? We don’t know yet.”
Sheahan said police have video from traffic cameras at the intersection and were checking hotel surveillance systems. The video will not be made public, he said.
Police said the driver and passenger in the taxi were killed. The male driver of the Maserati also died, and his passenger was shot. Police did not release their names citing the ongoing investigation.
The crumpled, gray sports car, which had no license plates, came to rest several feet (a few meters) away from the incinerated taxi.
“The people I feel sorry for are the people in the taxi,” said Elvina Joyce, a tourist from Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada. “Seconds made all the difference in the world for them. Wrong place, wrong time.”
The area near the scene has been the site of high-profile violence in the past.
Rapper Tupac Shakur was killed in a drive-by in 1996 about a block away under similar circumstances, as assailants opened fire on his luxury sedan from a vehicle on Flamingo Road. The killing has never been solved.