Aspiring rapper among dead after shooting, fiery crash on Las Vegas Strip
An aspiring rapper was among three killed during a shooting and subsequent car crash that killed three and closed a block and a half of the Las Vegas Strip.
Kenneth Cherry Jr. --
known as Kenny Clutch -- was driving his Maserati on Thursday when
someone in a black Range Rover Sport 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, said.
"It is gut-wrenching," Boldon's brother, Tehran Boldon, tearfully told said "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.
Shooting on the Las Vegas strip
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.
"This act is totally
unacceptable, and we are going to make a very clear message to these
individuals in regards to that," Gillespie said.
Police in neighboring
states have been asked to look for the SUV, and Gillespie warned the
occupants should be considered armed and dangerous.
"Clearly, the suspects have no regard for the lives and safety of others," he said.
The Range Rover had an out-of-state dealer plate, tinted windows and large black rims, Las Vegas Police Sgt. John Sheahan said.
John Lamb, who was inside Caesars Palace, said 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 news
