Las Vegas Strip Shooting: 1 Killed, 1 Injured After Gunman Fires On Bus Passengers

LAS VEGAS, NV — Police closed off part of the Las Vegas strip as they investigated a shooting that took place on a bus on South Las Vegas Boulevard that left one person dead and injured another when a passenger apparently indiscriminately started shooting at others on the bus.

Police say the suspect barricaded himself on the bus on Las Vegas Boulevard. The strip was shut down between Flamingo Road and Harmon Avenue as police worked to resolve the barricade incident. That part of the strip is where the luxury hotels The Bellagio and The Cosmopolitan are located.

Around 3:30 p.m. local time, police tweeted that the suspect surrendered and was taken into custody. Police said the man surrendered peacefully and authorities did not fire any shots at the man. At a media briefing at the scene after the suspect was in custody, police told reporters the suspect did fire shots at some point during the barricade but police did not return fire.

It was not immediately clear when the entire portion of the strip that was shut down would reopen. Police say they were working to open the boulevard "soon." The northbound part has reopened to traffic while the southbound part still remains closed.

Larry Hatfield, a public information officer for Las Vegas police, told reporters at the scene while the barricade situation was ongoing that one person was killed in the shooting and another injured. Hatfield said the shooting was a single incident and is not connected to terrorism. He also said the shooting was not connected to the burglary at the Bellagio hotel that took place early Saturday morning.

Police said they received a report of shots fired on the bus around 11 a.m. People were getting off the bus when police arrived on scene and then they realized that the suspect was still on the bus.

The suspect is a local man in his 50s with apparent mental issues, police told reporters. A motive was not immediately clear.

"He was on the bus as a rider and all of a sudden he just started shooting at passengers on the bus," assistant sheriff Tom Roberts told reporters. He added that the information was based on witness reports.

In light of the burglary at the Bellagio and the shooting on the strip, police said they would be adding extra security to make sure tourists feel safe.

The victims were not immediately identified.

Police are asking anyone with information on the shooting to call 702-828-7777.

Patch will update this breaking news story.

Image Credit: John Locher/Associated Press