Victim of shooting at Fashion Show Mall not cooperating, police say

By Las Vegas Sun Staff (contact)

Published Tuesday, July 15, 2014 | 6:19 p.m.

Updated Wednesday, July 16, 2014 | 4:54 p.m.

A man who was shot at a Las Vegas Strip shopping mall Tuesday is in critical condition and isn't cooperating with investigators, refusing to identify himself or even say how he made his way to the hospital, according to Metro Police.

Officer Larry Hadfield said today that detectives were trying to identify the shooter and determine what led to an altercation involving two groups of people before a shot was fired about 6 p.m. Tuesday at the food court at the Fashion Show Mall.

No suspects have been identified, police said.

The victim was with three other people described as "associates" when they got into an argument with three other men, one of whom pulled a gun and shot the victim in the neck, Metro spokesman John Sheahan said at a news conference Wednesday afternoon. The victim's associates left him behind and fled in a black Dodge Magnum, he said.

"We've got young men, armed, dangerous and one says something to another and we don't know what that is, but they go from zero to a high order of violence and start shooting," Sheahan said.

While some of the individuals involved may have gang affiliations, the shooting does not appear to be gang-motivated, police said. Police don't believe the two groups of men knew each other and think the shooting was an isolated incident, Sheahan said.

Lt. Mark Reddon told reporters at the scene that the wounded man ran down an escalator to Las Vegas Boulevard. Officers were subsequently advised the victim was at Mountain View Hospital being treated for a gunshot wound, police said. He was later transfered to Sunrise Hospital and Medical Center.

Officer Jesse Roybal said today that two people were detained for questioning but no arrests had been made. Patrol officers stopped a car occupied by the associates of the victim near Interstate 15 and Spring Mountain Road after the shooting, police said.

​Witnesses said the shooting took place near the Steve Madden store, according to police.

Detectives obtained video of the incident and were reviewing it, Sheahan said.

Police failed to find a firearm or shell casings at the scene, but Metro crime scene investigators collected photographic and possible DNA evidence in the food court, police said.

Shoppers fled the upscale mall after the shooting, and some stores in a wing near the shooting scene closed early.

Sheahan said Metro didn't consider the incident an active-shooter situation, as some early media reports indicated. The shooter appeared to have acted in the heat of the moment and was not intent on hurting anybody indiscriminately, he said.

Detectives from Metro's gang crimes bureau have assumed responsibility for the investigation.

Metro, in a tweet today, asked anyone with information about the shooting to contact the department's public information office.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.