Las Vegas Strip Shootings Continue Near Stage Door Casino

Posted on: September 27, 2020, 01:25h. 

Last updated on: September 28, 2020, 08:43h.

A wave of violent crime continued this weekend near the Las Vegas Strip. The latest incident at Stage Door Casino left three people wounded in a drive-by shooting.

Las Vegas Strip has been the site of multiple recent shootings
Las Vegas Metro Police responded near the Stage Door Casino following a drive-by shooting Saturday. Three people were wounded. (Image: KLAS)

On Saturday, an occupant in a passing car fired into a crowd assembled in a parking lot near the Stage Door. The lot apparently was the scene of a prior fight.

The trio of wounded victims required treatment at a local hospital. Each of the three was reportedly in stable condition later on Saturday. The injuries did not appear to be life-threatening, Metro Police Lt. Frank Humel told the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

The Stage Door Casino was founded in 1976. Soon, it became known as the venue where Frank Sinatra and friends visited after he performed at Caesars Palace during the late 1970s.

Recent Las Vegas Shootings Lead to Injuries

Saturday’s shooting follows one on Tuesday when a person was shot in the leg near the Aria Resort & Casino, also following a fight. She suffered minor injuries.

That shooting took place during a birthday party held for MoneyBagg Yo, according to social media posts. The rapper denies he was the target of the shooting, the Review-Journal said.

Last weekend, another victim was shot five times during a fight in front of Paris Las Vegas. That person and a second victim are recovering from injuries.

On Sept. 9, Las Vegas police fatally wounded a man on the Strip near Elvis Presley Boulevard. Matthew Patton, 37, allegedly charged at police, according to the Review-Journal. He was armed with a knife at the time.

Las Vegas Metro Capt. Dori Koren told the Review-Journal that aggravated assaults on or near the Strip have jumped 29 percent when contrasted to the same period during 2019. As of Sept. 19, there were 308 aggravated assaults in the department’s Convention Center Area Command.

During the same period in 2019, there were 238 reports of aggravated assaults in the same locale. Aggravated assaults involving a firearm were up 35 percent this year from 2019 in the Convention Center Area Command, the report added. Police have made more than 1,100 arrests and seized 64 guns in downtown Las Vegas and on the Strip over recent weeks, according to Clark County Sheriff Joe Lombardo.

Lombardo blamed recent violence on visitors in Las Vegas. They cannot go to nightclubs and other entertainment facilities because the properties are shuttered by the COVID-19 pandemic, Lombardo told KLAS, a local TV station.

Metro Police Up Presence on Strip

In response to the increase in crime, more Metro officers were assigned to the Las Vegas Strip area starting last week. The initiative is part of “Operation Persistent Pressure” –- to improve safety.

Also, this month, Wynn Resorts filed a lawsuit against over 20 people. They got into a fight over Labor Day weekend at the Encore at Wynn Las Vegas.

The names of the defendants were not immediately known. Wynn Resorts plans to hire more security officers.