18-year-old arrested in Fashion Show Mall shooting on Las Vegas Strip
LAS VEGAS NV Jan 23 2020 Las Vegas police said they arrested an 18-year-old man who is accused of shooting three people at the Fashion Show Mall on the Las Vegas Strip Tuesday night.
Parents of several employees told FOX5 their children were notified by text of an incident and to stay in place. Entrances to the mall at Las Vegas Boulevard and Spring Mountain Road were closed off Tuesday night just after the call came in about 6:15 p.m. on Jan. 21.
Three people were injured in the shooting, police said, in what appeared to be an isolated incident. Police on scene said there didn’t appear to be any further threat to the public.
On Wednesday, Las Vegas police said its Major Violators and Repeat Offender Program (ROP) unit arrested a 18-year-old Las Vegas man in the shooting.
Christopher Valenzuela-Olivas, 18, and and acquaintance were fighting with an individual as they walked through the mall, police said in a press release. Valenzuela-Olivas was about to leave the mall when he allegedly pulled out a handgun and shot multiple rounds, striking the person he was arguing with and two innocent bystanders.
All three victims were taken to local hospitals and released.
“I had just got done helping a customer and heard something loud but I thought someone had just dropped a board,” said Luis Cazares, who was working at a store in the mall at the time of the shooting.
He said he and his coworkers grabbed customers in the store and brought them to the back. “After that, I heard another one go off and then everybody just starts running and screaming.”
After she heard the second shot, mall employee Celora Currie said she saw people running.
“If they’re running from something, I should be running, too,” she said.
The mall was evacuated shortly after. Both Currie and Cazares said they’ll be nervous to work their next shift.
“We believe in relentless follow-up, so we will make sure every single detail is looked upon and investigate this to ensure that it does not happen again,” Capt. Koren said on scene.
“People come there to like have fun and shop without being terrified of being shot,” Cazares said.
Valenzuela-Olivas and his friend fled the scene before police arrived. He faces three charges of attempted murder.
Nevada Highway Patrol temporarily closed the off-ramps to Spring Mountain Road but the roads were reopened about 7:35 p.m.
FOX5
