Metro Police and crime scene analysts investigate after an officer-involved shooting at the Blue Diamond Crossing shopping mall at Blue Diamond Road near Valley View Boulevard Saturday, Aug. 11, 2018.
Published Saturday, Aug. 11, 2018 | 7:09 p.m.
Updated Saturday, Aug. 11, 2018 | 8:36 p.m.
An armed employee at a south valley retail store opened fire on one of the store’s managers Saturday afternoon and then was shot by Metro Police outside the business in an incident that brought confusion to frantic shoppers.
The only person struck by a bullet was the suspect, who was hospitalized in unknown condition, Capt. Nichole Splinter said Saturday evening. This was the fifth shooting involving a Metro officer in seven days.
A pair of officers about 4:15 p.m. responded to what was described to 911 as an active shooter incident in the Blue Diamond Crossing shopping center on Blue Diamond Road and Valley View Boulevard, Splinter said.
As the officers pulled up, a suspect exiting the Ross Dress for Less store — where he was employed — opened fire on them, Splinter said. An officer returned fire, bringing the man down with a single bullet.
The violence first unfolded when the suspect, a security guard at the store, and one of his managers argued, Splinter said. The man left, but returned several minutes later, this time wielding a gun.
He’d opened fire on the victim, but missed, Splinter said.
Consumers who were at a nearby Target, many getting supplies for the start of a new school year on Monday, described the aftermath.
Sonika Shams was at the school supplies area with her two children, ages 10 and 13. All of a sudden, people started running toward the back of the store in panic, she said.
She left her cart and gathered her kids after someone proclaimed, “there’s a shooter.” She briefly lost track of her son, which added to the panic and left her shaking.
“Oh my God, I was freaked out,” she said.
Sham, after returning home and digesting what had occurred, returned to the scene a couple of hours later with praise for officials.
“I really want to thank Las Vegas Metro Police officers; every one of them,” she said.
Cynthia Vizza was halfway through checkout when up to 20 people rushed into the the building yelling that there was an active shooter.
“I thought a lot of people were going to die. That’s what I thought, because of (Oct. 1), you just don’t know,” she said. “...You don’t get away (from an active shooter incident) without someone getting hurt.”
So, Vizza grabbed her phone, left her purse, and ran toward the back of the store. That’s where she and dozens of other shoppers hid until officers arrived to escort them to another store, three people at a time, she said.
As night fell Saturday night, the shopping center remained taped off as the investigation continued.
