Las Vegas police are searching for a gunman believed to have fatally shot one person and injured four others at a homeless encampment Friday night.
The shooting occurred around 5:34 p.m. in the area of Charleston and Honolulu, police said at a news briefing. Officers responding to the scene found five men at the encampment suffering from gunshot wounds.
They were all taken to the hospital, where a man believed to be in his 50s was pronounced dead, Las Vegas police homicide Lt. Jason Johansson said.
Two men believed to be in their 30s are hospitalized in stable condition and one man in his 30s is critical, Johansson told reporters. Another man said to be “in his adult teenage years” was in stable condition at the hospital, Johansson said.
Witnesses told police they saw the suspected gunman flee the area in a dark sedan. Johansson said they are still trying to confirm that information.
“I do urge anyone in the area who was driving through here who maybe witnessed any information or saw anything or witnessed anything, to please reach out to the homicide section or reach out to Crime Stoppers in Nevada if you wish to remain anonymous,” he said.
The shooting followed a warning from officials in Los Angeles to unhoused people to not sleep alone after three homeless people were fatally shot without provocation. Los Angeles Police Chief Michel Moore said Friday that they believe one gunman killed the three male victims in separate attacks while they slept.
A police task force was formed to investigate the Los Angeles shootings, and homicide detectives were being pulled from all over the city.
CORRECTION (Dec. 2, 2023, 1:20 p.m. ET): A previous version of this story misspelled the police lieutenant’s name. It is Jason Johansson, not Johnson.
