Las Vegas Officer Injured in Attack Released from Hospital, Assailant Killed

Posted on: February 6, 2021, 02:37h. 

Last updated on: February 6, 2021, 04:14h.

Larry Henry Read More
Expertise: Commercial Gaming, Gaming Business, Legislation, Politics, Regulation.

A police officer has been released from the hospital after a man attacked her at a Las Vegas gun range. The assailant was shot to death in the confrontation. This incident is one of several violent occurrences on or near the Las Vegas Strip since the new year began. 

The Range 702
Police investigate the site of an officer-involved shooting near the Las Vegas Strip. A Metro officer was injured in the incident. The suspect was killed. (Image: KLAS-TV)

The officer in the midweek incident was hospitalized after a man with a screwdriver attacked her outside The Range 702 on Dean Martin Drive near the resort corridor. 

The officer’s partner and three civilians fired on the assailant, killing him, police said.

The incident began just before 1 pm on Wednesday after civilians followed the man outside the gun range. He had been creating a disturbance, police said.

When the two police officers arrived, the man ignored their commands. After he attacked one officer with a screwdriver, her partner and three civilians began firing, police said. It was not immediately clear whose shot killed the assailant. The suspect’s name was not immediately released.

The names of the injured officer and the three civilians also were not released by the end of the week. The officer’s partner is Andrew Nguyen, 34, a member of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department since 2018, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal. He is on paid administrative leave pending a police department internal investigation. It was unclear whether the civilians would be charged with a crime.

Gun Range Location

The gun range is at the southern end of the Strip, just west of the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino. Allegiant Stadium, home of the NFL’s Las Vegas Raiders, and McCarran International Airport also are nearby.

In 2017, Mandalay Bay was the site of the worst mass shooting in US history. A man in an upper-floor guest room fired on attendees at a music festival across the Strip near the Tropicana Las Vegas. The shooting resulted in 60 deaths. 

Before Mandalay Bay was built, that site is where the Hacienda hotel-casino was located. The Hacienda was one of four casinos that Mob associate Frank “Lefty” Rosenthal oversaw for Midwestern crime families. Rosenthal’s Las Vegas exploits were fictionalized in the 1995 movie Casino.

Violent Incidents

Since the new year began, at least two other shootings and a stabbing have occurred on or near the Las Vegas Strip.

Last month, a man was hospitalized in critical condition in a shooting outside the Venetian Resort on the east side of the Strip. Two men were arrested in the shooting.

Also in January, police responding to a 3 am call at the Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino discovered a man in the parking lot who had been shot. He was taken to the hospital in critical condition. Police did not immediately release the identities of any suspects. 

The Rio is an off-Strip resort just west of Caesars Palace.

On Monday, a man was hospitalized after being stabbed in the neck during a domestic dispute near Bally’s Las Vegas Hotel and Casino on the east side of the Strip.  A woman was taken into custody.

These incidents came after a police captain announced that a surge in crime on the Strip and nearby areas in 2020 “was resolved to some extent.” 

Late last year, the police department cracked down on crime in the area in a program authorities called “Operation Persistent Pressure.” The three-month effort resulted in 1,229 arrests.