Emergency personnel respond to the scene of a stabbing along the Las Vegas Strip on Thursday, October 6, 2022. Police say one person was stabbed to death and at least five others were injured. A suspect is in custody.
KTNV via AP
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KTNV via AP
Emergency personnel respond at the scene of a stabbing along the Las Vegas Strip on Thursday, October 6, 2022. Police say one person was fatally stabbed and at least five others were injured. A suspect is in custody.
KTNV via AP
LAS VEGAS – An attacker with a large kitchen knife killed two people and wounded six others in stabbings along the Las Vegas Strip before being arrested Thursday, police said.
Three people were hospitalized in critical condition and three others were in stable condition, according to Las Vegas police, who said they began receiving 911 calls about the crash around 11:40 a.m. on the east end. north of the Strip.
Authorities said the suspect had identified himself with police and that they were working to determine his “true identity.” They described him as Hispanic and in his 30s, and said he did not appear to be a Las Vegas resident.
Clark County Sheriff Joe Lombardo said the names of the two dead are being withheld until their next of kin can be notified.
“Locals and tourists are victims of this crime,” Lombardo said at a news conference.
Metro Deputy Sheriff James LaRochelle said the initial stabbing was unprovoked and on the east sidewalk of Las Vegas Boulevard. He said the suspect then went south and stabbed others.
The man fled and was followed by 911 callers before he was arrested, authorities said. LaRochelle said police recovered a “large knife with a long blade” believed to have been used, calling the case a “confusing murder investigation.”
Lombardo said there are no other suspects in the case and “the Strip is safe.”
Police said it was too early in their investigation to speculate on a possible motive for the stabbing.
Witnesses told Las Vegas broadcasters that some of the victims appeared to be showgirls or street performers who took pictures with tourists on the Strip.
The suspect told a woman that he was a chef who wanted to take pictures with some girls with his knife, but he started stabbing people when the group refused the man’s offer. told KTNV.
Pierre Fandrich, a tourist from Canada, told KTNV that he did not see the fatal stabbing suspect as he was walking along the Strip. But he said he thought he heard “three or four performers laughing,” and it turned out to be screams.
Fandrich said he saw “a lot of blood” as one woman ran across the bridge, one was on the ground, and another had stab wounds in his back trying to help the fallen woman.
Fandrich also told KTNV that he thought one of the victims fell from the bridge because there was a lot of blood on the ground.
