LAS VEGAS (CNN) — Police are on an “intense” and “extremely focused” nationwide manhunt for the occupants of a black Range Rover at the center of a shooting on the Las Vegas strip that claimed three lives.
The incident involved a Maserati that was shot at and subsequently crashed into a taxi, which caught fire.
The driver of the Maserati, whom family identified as Kenneth Cherry Jr., died at a hospital. The taxi driver and a passenger also died.
The shots were fired from the Range Rover, which Las Vegas police spokesman Bill Cassell said could be anywhere.
Police have received multiple reports of vehicles that match the description, but “at this point, we have no information that the vehicle in the crime has been located,” he said Friday.
Cassell declined to say if there was one suspect or several, citing the ongoing investigation.
Cherry, an aspiring rapper known as Kenny Clutch, was driving his Maserati on Thursday when someone in the Range Rover fired several shots at his car as it headed north on Las Vegas Boulevard.
The Maserati continued into the intersection of the boulevard and Flamingo Road and collided with a taxi, which caught fire, killing cab driver Michael Boldon, 62, CNN affiliate KVVU said.
“It is gut-wrenching,” Boldon’s brother, Tehran Boldon, tearfully told KVVU. “My life mission will be to see them punished and brought to justice for the senseless thing they did.”
A passenger in the taxi also died. A passenger in the Maserati and three others were injured in the pileup, Sheriff Douglas Gillespie said.
The fire closed a block and a half of the Strip near some of its biggest draws: Caesars Palace, the Bellagio, Bally’s and the Flamingo. Police collected surveillance video from the casinos.
The shooting took place two blocks from where rapper Tupac Shakur was killed in 1996.
Cherry prominently features his Maserati in a music video on YouTube.
“Out of everyone I know in the rapping industry, there is no way I would have ever, ever expected to find that he was shot on the Las Vegas Strip in such an aggressive manner,” said Vicki Greco, Cherry’s attorney. “He didn’t have a (criminal) record or a history. He was just a good kid trying to make it and be a good father.”
Cherry had two children, she said.
“First time in Vegas, and then, like, the whole thing, what you know from movies only — I was shocked,” said Christine Gerstenberger, who was visiting from Germany.
Thursday’s incident started about 4:20 a.m. with a dispute in the valet lot of the Aria hotel, about a block away, Gillespie said. Investigators haven’t confirmed the cause of the altercation, but he said it spilled onto the street.
The Maserati’s passenger and other witnesses are helping detectives piece together what happened, he said. The “top priority” for police is to find those who were inside the Range Rover, which sped away from the intersection.
John Lamb, who was inside Caesars Palace, told CNN affiliate KLAS that he heard the commotion and saw the taxi on fire from a window.
“There was a loud bang, and I heard two other booms. I looked out my window at Caesars Palace … and could see the fireball,” he told KLAS.
Anyone with information is asked to call the Crime Stoppers of Nevada at (702) 385-5555.
The suspect in a shooting that sparked a fiery crash on the Las Vegas Strip, leaving three people dead, was arrested at an apartment in the San Fernando Valley.
134 Comments to “Aspiring Rapper Killed in Vegas Shooting, Crash”
February 22, 2013 at 6:12 PM
Based on facts (not racism), where's there's African Americans…there's violence. Black leaders need to quit blaming others and begin to reduce violence in collaboration with the President. From Chicago to Memphis (& now Vegas), it's out of hand.
February 22, 2013 at 6:36 PM
13th Amendment has done a lot …filled our prisons, reduced education standards, increased crime & violence. Thanks Abe!
February 22, 2013 at 6:47 PM
up to I saw the paycheck ov $5269, I be certain …that…my neighbours mother was like they say actualey receiving money in their spare time from there pretty old laptop.. there aunt has done this for only twentey months and resently paid for the dept on there appartment and bought Renault 4. read more at, ……. BIT40.ℂOℳ
February 22, 2013 at 9:29 PM
Boy no matter where you go, ignorance prevails in the comment section
February 22, 2013 at 10:38 PM
Pimp and aspiring rapper. Doesn't sound like it could have happened to a nicer fella.
February 23, 2013 at 7:56 AM
I'm confused; what do 'liberaals' have to do with this.
February 23, 2013 at 7:57 AM
What is a liberal?
February 21, 2013 at 9:31 AM
At least you didn't use any more foul language.
February 21, 2013 at 9:39 AM
Why thank you, this usually means you realize you were wrong again and I was right.
Our laws were put in place to rule over a 'moral society' and a lack of normal values isn't what they were designed to handle. this senseless death shows that.
February 21, 2013 at 9:39 AM
And once more you had nothing to add but wanted to take up space.
Wee, life and death issues should be taken more seriously.
February 21, 2013 at 8:46 PM
Another pointless comment from a pointless troll.
Oh, you're off work and won't be back at your work terminal until 8 am in the morning. How predictable. Not many people have a work terminal and regular hours to spam all sorts of sites for sharia compliant violence.
February 21, 2013 at 8:47 PM
Another pointless comment from the pointless troll with sharia compliant violent tendancies.
February 21, 2013 at 8:47 PM
Another pointless comment from the pointless troll with sharia compliant violent tendancies. Call for jihad today?
February 21, 2013 at 9:43 AM
Yes they should so maybe you should comment on the story instead of attacking me. All you will get is a . out of me. That stops you dead in your tracks
February 21, 2013 at 9:44 AM
.
February 21, 2013 at 8:45 PM
Wee, why would I not comment on your islamic based values?
February 22, 2013 at 12:02 AM
Will you guys take your sniveling back to the 912 please. We're sick of both of your faces.