Police found an injured man and woman in the Cosmopolitan Las Vegas’s parking lot. The woman later died at UMC.
A man has been arrested in connection to two lethal shootings near the Cosmopolitan Las Vegas casino on Friday morning. Omar Talley, a 30-year old man, was taken into custody on Saturday by the Metropolitan Police Department.
The shooting appears to have stemmed from a public brawl near the Planet Hollywood Miracle Miles Shop at 1:18 am on Friday morning. The fight was broken up by security guards, but the incident did not end there.
Shooter Followed Victims from Brawl’s Scene
Security video shows a 2015 Toyota Camry following a Silver Hyundai as they left the parking lot. Suddenly, a man alleged to be Omar Talley got out of the Toyota Camry got out of the car and shot into the Silver Hyundai.
Police responded to the call at around 1:30 am Friday morning. They found a downed woman at the corner of Harmon Avenue and Aldebaran Avenue. She was taken to the University Medical Center and later died.
Melissa Mendoza and Jennifer Chicas Murdered
Authorities say a car involved in the shootings entered the parking lot of The Cosmopolitan Las Vegas casino on the Las Vegas Strip. Inside was a man and woman who had been shot by Omar Talley. Both were transported to UMC. The woman later died, while the man remains in critical condition.
According to the Clarke County coroners office, the two women murdered were Melissa Mendoza, 27, and Jennifer Chicas, 27.
Video Shows an African-American Shooter
Lt. Dan McGrath of Metro’s homicide section said video surveillance showed an African-American man in his 20s get out of his car and point his gun at the Silver Hyundai. (Omar Talley is 30.) The video allowed police investigators to track down the identity of the man.
Though Talley has been arrested, police are still searching for the Toyota Camry involved in the shooting, for the sake of evidence. The police have asked for help in locating the vehicle. Video shows it has the California license plate 7MNJ601.
Shots Fired at Gold Coast
A night later, another brawl became a gun battle at the Gold Coast Casino. Shots were fired at the Gold Coast Casino in Las Vegas on Saturday. Two groups brawled inside the casino, but both groups had left the casino before police arrived.
Lt. Rick Given, a Metropolitan Police Department, said officers arrived at Gold Coast at 2:30 am on Saturday morning. They learned that 4 shots had been fired during the brawl, but no one was hit by bullets.
No Arrests Made in Gold Coast Incident
Rick Given said surveillance video would be used to identify those involved in the brawl. As of 7:30 am Saturday morning, five hours after the incident, no arrests had been made. With so many witnesses, surveillance video, and casino club cards likely involved, it is a matter of time before those involved are located.
Luckily, no one died in the second incident. It is sobering to think that two brawls within a 24-hour period turned into gun battles. If such incidents become a trend, many gamblers are likely to stay away from the Las Vegas Strip.
Escalation Is a Bad Idea
Those involved in such incidents need to remember that a brawl involved misdemeanor charges in most cases, but any incident involving a gun is going to be a felony. Omar Talley is likely to go to prison for the remainder of his life if he is proven guilty of a double-homicide.
The person who fired shots at the Gold Coast is likely to serve prison time, because they brought a handgun into a casino. Firing shots of any kind might lead to attempted murder charges. Most gamblers know these things, but if only one person remembers such advice in an incident somewhere along the way, it bears stating.
