Suspect Arrested in Las Vegas Casino Shooting

Posted on: March 9, 2021, 05:00h. 

Last updated on: March 9, 2021, 05:30h.

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

An 18-year-old man has been arrested in connection with a shooting early this year at an off-Strip casino parking lot in Las Vegas.

Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department cruiser
A Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department cruiser sits in a parking space. Police have arrested one man in a shooting at an off-Strip casino. (Image: KTNV-TV)

Romell Buckly is scheduled for a March 18 preliminary hearing at the Las Vegas Justice Court, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal. He was booked into the Clark County Detention Center on March 3. Buckly faces an attempted murder charge. His last name also is spelled Buckley in a police document.

On Jan. 16, the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police department was called just before 3 am to the Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino parking lot. The Rio is just west of the Las Vegas Strip, behind Caesars Palace. 

Police responding to the call discovered a man on the Rio parking lot, suffering from several gunshot wounds. The man was hospitalized in critical condition. After multiple surgeries, he has survived, the newspaper reported.

Surveillance video of the incident shows Buckly leaving the hotel with the victim’s girlfriend, according to police. The victim chased Buckly and the woman. Buckly and the victim then got into an altercation.

Buckly went back to the Rio, but soon was outside again. Approaching the couple, he fired at the man, police said.

They appear to have a quick conversation before Romell produces a handgun and shoots (the victim) multiple times,” police wrote in an arrest warrant.

After the shooting, Buckly drove away. Police said the car he was in that night was recovered Jan. 18 at a San Bernardino, Calif., residence. A gun thought to have been used in the incident also was recovered, the newspaper reported.

Violent Crime

The shooting at the Rio is one of several violent incidents at or near the Strip since the first of the year.

In separate incident in January, one man was shot outside the Venetian Resort on the east side of the Strip. The Venetian is located where the now-demolished Sands hotel-casino once stood.

Police said this incident involved two groups of men who began fighting on the Venetian gaming floor. After being kicked out, the groups met up on the Strip outside the hotel-casino and began fighting again.

During the fight, one man began to retrieve a handgun from his waistband. He and another man fought over the firearm. During the struggle, the gun went off. The victim was shot in the abdomen area.

The gunman and another man crossed the Strip to the west side of the resort corridor. They were arrested on that side of the highway at the Treasure Island, a hotel-casino also known as the TI.

An emergency crew took the victim to a local hospital. He was reported in critical but stable condition.

In another recent violent incident, a 57-year-old retired Connecticut State Police trooper died after a man punched him near the Strip and Flamingo Road. A suspect was arrested a short time later

Beefed Up Police Presence

These incidents followed a surge in shootings and fights on or near the Strip in the last half of 2020. This increase in violent crime led to several people being hospitalized.

In response, police beefed up their presence in an operation authorities called Operation Persistent Pressure. 

The effort was in place on Friday and Saturday nights from Sept. 18 to Dec. 20. It resulted in the arrest of 1,229 people.