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March 28, 2024

Police: Security guard arrested after man fatally shot in alley after scuffle

Fatal Shooting Near Paradise and Sahara

Steve Marcus

Metro Police officers stand by a vehicle following a fatal shooting near Sahara Avenue and Paradise Road Thursday, July 19, 2018.

Updated Thursday, July 19, 2018 | 7:02 p.m.

Fatal Shooting Near Paradise and Sahara

Metro Police officers confer after a fatal shooting near Sahara Avenue and Paradise Road Thursday, July 19, 2018. Launch slideshow »

A brief scuffle led to a fatal shooting today in an alley adjacent to a motel north of the Strip, according to Metro Police.

Fewer than five seconds after two men started to shove each other, one of them pulled a gun and fired a single round, Metro Lt. Ray Spencer said.

After questioning him, detectives arrested the gunman on a murder count, Spencer said Thursday night.

Officers responded to the shooting about 12:45 p.m. in the 2200 block of Las Vegas Boulevard South, near Sahara Avenue. The man died at University Medical Center, police said.

The suspected shooter, a security guard, was on his lunch break at the motel where he lived when he began to argue with a man walking through the parking lot, Spencer said. It was not clear what they were arguing about or if they knew each other.

The argument turned physical, and the shoving and subsequent shooting was captured on surveillance video, Spencer said.

Spencer on Thursday afternoon said it was too early to determine whether the shooting was in self-defense. Immediately after he fired his gun, the security guard holstered it and provided medical aid to the victim, Spencer said. An employee from a nearby business provided CPR, he said.