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Crazy Vegas Strip Car-To-Car Shooting Involving Maserati Ends With 3 Dead.
Edited to reflect confirmation by Las Vegas police.
Las Vegas police tonight said a man who lives only a mile from Thursday's horrific car-to-car shooting on the Strip is the suspect in the attack.
Cops identified Ammar Harris, 26, as a suspect at-large: They said they recovered a Range Rover matching the description of one used in the crime, according to the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department:
Harris was said to be armed and dangerous. Cops say he has an “extensive and violent criminal history.”
#BREAKING: Metro Police have named Ammar Harris as the suspect in deadly Strip Shooting. Considered armed & dangerous twitter.com/Jeff8NewsNow/s…
— Jeff Landset (@Jeff8NewsNow) February 24, 2013
The 4:20 a.m. attack followed an altercation at the Aria hotel valet stand, police told us. Someone in a black Range Rover Sport opened fire on a Maserati being driven by Kenneth Cherry, a rapper who also goes by the name Kenny Clutch, as the vehicles were headed north on the Strip at Flamingo Road, cops said.
@spyonvegas caught a pic of Ammar Harris at Haze Nightclub before fight at Aria Valet that led to 3 murders on LVB twitter.com/EdwardLawrence…
— Edward Lawrence (@EdwardLawrence) February 24, 2013
Though Cherry's rhymes conjure a gangster lifestyle, and though some of his Facebook photos could be interpreted as showing off gang-style poses, his father, Kenneth Cherry, Sr., told reporters to remember that his son was the victim here.
(Two other people in a cab hit by the Maserati perished when the taxi went up in flames).
The elder Cherry said the rapper's words and imagery were just put-ons that he was straight-laced. One report, however, stated Cherry was convicted of a gun-related charge in 2007.
The search for Cherry's killer spanned four states, including Nevada, California, Utah and Arizona. The LAPD even checked out a tip Thursday afternoon that the SUV used in the shooting might be in South L.A. (it was not).
Now cops say their guy might have been only blocks away.
[Added at 11:22 p.m. Monday]: During a news conference today a Las Vegas police official emphasized that no guns were found in Cherry's vehicle and that the aspiring rapper did not return fire.
[@dennisjromero / djromero@laweekly.com / @LAWeeklyNews]
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