Metro Police say the armed suspect who barricaded himself on a bus following a shooting on the Las Vegas Strip, surrendered Saturday around 3:15 p.m., and is now in police custody.
The incident on South Las Vegas Boulevard began around 10:48 a.m. in front of the Cosmopolitan.
“Everyone was actually pretty calm. The officers were on edge. You could tell that with the weapons drawn and kind of forcefully asking questions,” said Mike Weix, who was having brunch at the Cosmopolitan when the shooting occurred.
Police say the suspect, described as a man in his 50’s, pulled out a handgun and began firing at passengers on the second story of a two-story RTC bus.
Two people were struck in the shooting. Both people were transported to UMC Trauma. One victim died at the hospital and the other suffered non-life-threatening injuries, police said.
The suspect barricaded himself on the bus. SWAT and crisis negotiators arrived at the scene and worked to get him out of the vehicle. However, at one point, the suspect opened fire again once they deployed robots. Police say they did not return fire.
During negotiations, police say they realized the suspect, who appears to be a local, had significant mental health issues.
Authorities say this was an isolated active shooter incident which was constrained to the RTC bus. The shooting has no apparent connection to terrorism.
“Being from Wisconsin, this wasn’t exactly what I was expecting on my trip to Vegas,”
Police are now looking to speak with people who saw the shooting. Witnesses are asked to call (702) 828-7777.
Las Vegas Boulevard was shut down from Flamingo Road to Harmon Avenue during the barricade situation. Northbound Las Vegas in now open.
There is no motive for the shooting at this time.
(Information from LasVegasNow.com)