Asuka In Vicinity Of Shooting On Las Vegas Strip, Unharmed In The Incident
Photo by Etsuo Hara/Getty Images
There was a reported shooting on the Las Vegas strip yesterday evening and Asuka was in the area of where it happened.
According to CBS 8 News Now out of Las Vegas, the gunfire occurred outside of The Fashion Show Mall that had three people shot, but thankfully everyone is expected to live.
Asuka Tweeted about her experience, stating that she was lead into the GUESS nearby for protection.
I just escaped!
There was a scream in front of me at #FashionShowMall. It was like shooting. #GUESS near the shooting range protected me.— ASUKA / 明日華 (@WWEAsuka) January 22, 2020
I heard screams from outside the door several times after fleeing to GUESS.#FashionShowMall
— ASUKA / 明日華 (@WWEAsuka) January 22, 2020
The Metro police stated that they believe occurrence isolated and are still looking for the suspect (or suspects) in the shooting. You can read CBS 8 News’ report below:
LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — Metro Police are investigating a shooting at Fashion Show Mall that left three people injured. The department’s gang unit was called to the scene, which is located on the Las Vegas Strip at Las Vegas Boulevard and Spring Mountain.
Police want to stress this did not involve an active shooter, and the community is safe tonight.
“We believe it’s an isolated incident,” said Metro Captain Dori Koren. “We don’t believe that there was any kind of targeted shooting, but we don’t know the role of every single victim at this point, and we don’t know the role of anyone else who may have been involved during the initial altercation.”
According to Metro, it all unfolded Tuesday evening when a group of juveniles got into an argument. Authorities said right before the group was about to get into a fight, one person pulled out a gun and fired it into the crowd.
The victims were transported to the hospital and are expected to live, police reported. Metro said one was shot in the face, another in the leg, and bullets hit a third person in the chest and face.
A witness 8 News Now spoke with said she saw two of the people hurt suffering from gunshot wounds. She said one of the victims was an elderly man:
“I had seen two people got shot at the mall. One of them was lying on the floor. The other one was elderly. He was pulled out with the wheelchair,” said Laura Arias. “It was pretty scary. I have never seen something like this. I’ve heard stuff here in Vegas, but I’ve never really seen it.”
Other witnesses told us the scene in the mall at the time of the shooting was chaotic. Once gunshots were heard, a lot of people tried to escape.
Another person, an employee at a store inside the mall, said he and his manager took their customers into the back of the store to keep them safe.
“It was like a regular work day. I looked outside of our store, and there was people running away. They were all running the same way,” recounted Shoe Palace employee Luis Cazares.
Of course, the situation could have been much worse. Many witnesses are thanking first responders for their quick action during a frightening moment.
All off ramps from I-15 to eastbound Spring Mountain were closed for more than an hour due to police investigating the shooting at Fashion Show Mall. Spring Mountain opened in both directions between I-15 and Las Vegas Boulevard around 9:38 p.m. Fashion Show Drive reopened minutes later.
As everything was unfolding Metro placed the entire mall on a lock down because police officers were searching the area for the suspects. The lock down has since been lifted.
Metro Police are still looking for a suspect or suspects in this case.
This also isn’t the first incident of its kind at the Fashion Show Mall. In May 2019, a man was arrested for firing a gun inside the mall. That night, police said two groups got into a fight, and one man shot once. No one was hurt.
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