Someone inside a vehicle allegedly fired shots through its sunroof at another car heading north on Interstate 15 early Sunday, prompting police to temporarily close northbound lanes between Flamingo Road and Tropicana Avenue before they reopened. No injuries were reported in the incident.
According to the FOX5 Las Vegas report, a witness called in gunfire to the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department at 4:10 a.m. Officers who responded determined that someone inside a vehicle had fired shots through the sunroof at another car traveling northbound, per LVMPD. Police shut down the freeway between Flamingo Road and Tropicana Avenue while they investigated, and the lanes later reopened, LVMPD said.
A Corridor That Can't Afford Downtime
A Hilton hotel is just off I-15 and near the Strip, T-Mobile Arena and Allegiant Stadium.
LVMPD shut down the freeway between Flamingo Road and Tropicana Avenue while officers investigated Sunday's shooting.
Legal Exposure If A Suspect Is Caught
Under Nevada Revised Statutes 202.287, maliciously or wantonly discharging a firearm from within or on a vehicle in a populated area is a Category B felony punishable by one to ten years in state prison and a fine of up to $5,000, according to Justia's compilation of state law. A separate statute, NRS 202.285, makes it a Category B felony to intentionally discharge a firearm into an occupied vehicle or structure, also carrying a potential sentence of one to ten years, per the same legal reference. Together, the statutes mean a driver accused of shooting at another occupied car from inside their own vehicle on a Nevada freeway could face multiple felony counts if identified and apprehended.
A Recent Fatal Shooting Near Tropicana Avenue
On September 21, LVMPD homicide detectives responded to a fatal parking lot shooting in the 4600 block of Grand Drive near Tropicana Avenue and Koval Lane, where an adult male was killed following an altercation and the suspect fled the scene, according to the Nevada Globe.
Hoodline has also tracked a pattern of gunfire along major Las Vegas traffic corridors this year, including a shooting that wounded one person on Cheyenne Avenue with the gunman still at large, and an earlier incident on Durango Drive in which a suspect also fled after shots were fired. Those cases remain separate investigations, but they underscore how often LVMPD has had to respond to gunfire reports on the city's busiest roadways in recent months.
Other I-15 Incidents
A fatal I-15 crash was reported. In April, a fatal crash forced Nevada State Police to close all northbound I-15 lanes at Washington Avenue in Las Vegas.
Whether investigators have identified the vehicle or suspect involved in Sunday's shooting, and whether any struck vehicles or shell casings were recovered from the freeway, has not been disclosed by police.
