1 dead, 26 hurt after car hits crowds on Vegas Strip
LAS VEGAS: A woman with a toddler in her car deliberately and repeatedly rammed into pedestrians on the packed Las Vegas Strip Sunday, killing one person and injuring at least 26 others, police said.
“This was not an act of terrorism... we’ve ruled that out,” deputy police chief Brett Zimmerman told reporters.
However, he added: “We have determined that this is an intentional act.”
The Las Vegas Strip, lined with casinos and fancy hotels, attracts tourists from around the world and is usually abuzz with activity.
The incident occurred on the same night that Las Vegas hosted the popular Miss Universe pageant, which saw the crowning of Miss Philippines at a venue not far from where the chaotic scene unfolded.
Witness Rabia Qureshi, a tourist from Wisconsin, told the local NBC station KSNV that the vehicle in question looked like “a bowling ball and the human bodies were like pins”.
“You think it’ s as how, because you’ re in Vegas ,” Qureshi was quoted as saying by NBC News. “But then I saw some people fly in the air.”
The suspect was in custody, speaking with detectives and undergoing several tests, including for alcohol.
Police—urging more witnesses to come forward— described her as an African American woman in her 20s who was driving a 1996 Oldsmobile with Oregon license plates.
The three-year-old toddler in the car was unharmed, they said.