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Three killed in gunfight, crash on Las Vegas strip

Posted at 8:42 AM, Feb 21, 2013
and last updated 2013-02-21 15:05:25-05

(CNN) — Three people were dead and at least three others injured after a shooting and fiery six-vehicle crash along the Las Vegas Strip in Nevada early Thursday, police said.

The incident began about 4:20 a.m. when someone in an SUV — stopped at a stoplight on Las Vegas Boulevard near Caesars Palace and a number of other casinos — fired into a Maserati that also had stopped at the light, Las Vegas police said.

The Maserati moved into the intersection with Flamingo Road and collided with a taxi, starting a chain of crashes that involved four other vehicles, police said.

Fire swept through the taxi, where the driver and a passenger were trapped. The taxi’s two occupants and the Maserati’s driver died, Las Vegas Police spokesman Jose Hernandez said.

A passenger in the Maserati suffered gunshot wounds and was being treated at a hospital, police said. At least two other people in the other crashed vehicles suffered light to moderate injuries, they said.

John Lamb, who was inside Caesars Palace, told CNN affiliate KLAS he heard the commotion and saw the taxi on fire from a window.

“There was a loud bang, and I hear two other booms. I looked out my window at Caesars Palace … and could see the fireball,” he told KLAS.

Police are looking for the occupants of the SUV, described as a black Range Rover Sport with tinted windows, large black rims and a dealer license plate not from Nevada, said Las Vegas Police Sgt. John Sheahan.

Hernandez said he didn’t have information on what led to the shooting. The names of the dead and the injured were not immediately released.

CNN’s Carol Costello, Jason Hanna and Deanna Hackney contributed to this report.

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