Suspect surrenders after barricading himself inside a bus on Las Vegas Strip after shooting dead passenger, 57, for ‘no apparent reason’
About 30 patrol cars rushed to the scene on South Las Vegas Boulevard
A man sitting at the back of a public bus on the Las Vegas Strip opened fire "for no apparent reason" as passengers got off at a stop in a busy tourist area, police said today.
Gary Breitling, 57, of Sidney, Montana, was shot and killed Saturday before the gunman barricaded himself in the vehicle, shutting down the Strip for hours, the Clark County coroner's office said. He died at a hospital.
Rolando Cardenas, 55, has been accused in the shooting, and he surrendered peacefully after a standoff inside the double-decker bus that lasted more than four hours, police said.
Officers added that he opened fire for "no apparent reason".
He was booked into jail on suspicion of murder, attempted murder, burglary and opening fire on the bus.
Breitling was with his wife Barbara in Las Vegas, reports .
Former NBA player Scot Pollard, who is staying at the Cosmopolitan, told The Associated Press by phone that he was at a bar at the hotel-casino around 11 a.m. when he saw several people, including staff, running through the area toward the casino and repeatedly screaming "get out of the way."
After he was told that the area would be closed, he went back to his room, which oversees the Strip.
He said: "We can hear them negotiating. We can hear them saying things like 'No one else needs to get hurt, come out with your hands up. We are not going anywhere. We are not leaving'."
The bus was seen parked outside the Cosmopolitan and the world-famous Bellagio - where hours earlier a group of burglars tried breaking into a Rolex store.
Snipers were reported to be on the rooftops surrounding the scene.
Cops earlier closed off two blocks of the Las Vegas Strip amid the standoff.
Hotel guests along the thoroughfare posted on Twitter that they were ordered to stay inside.
The drama came after an armed raid at the Bellagio's Rolex store earlier in the day.
The two incidents are not being linked by police.
Police evacuated the Cosmopolitan hotel and casino floor as a result of the incident.
They blocked off pedestrian walkways and several blocks of traffic on the Strip.
Despite some reports, there was no confirmed second suspect, police added.
"The shooting incident happened on the bus," said Larry Hadfield, of Las Vegas Metro police.
"We had one single shooting incident with two victims. Both were transported to the trauma centre and one is deceased."