Man shot dead in parking lot of Palms hotel

Jen Lawson

Friday, Nov. 14, 2003 | 11:28 a.m.

As the Palms was preparing for this weekend's celebrity-filled second anniversary party, a man was shot and killed in the hotel-casino's parking lot this morning.

Security guards reported hearing the shots from the lot outside the casino's sports book shortly after 7:30 a.m.

Metro Police arrested 19-year-old Frederick Dixon in connection with the crime. The victim's identity was not immediately released.

Metro officers found the dead man in a silver Mercedes, Metro spokesman Jose Montoya said.

A white Cadillac Escalade with Texas license plates was surrounded by police tape and officers in front of the Palms' entrance about 9 a.m. Police said the Cadillac was connected to the shooting.

The shooting resulted from an argument between two groups of men, about 18 total, that began about 6 a.m. at Seven, a nightclub on Las Vegas Boulevard, said Metro Lt. Tom Monahan. The men are in their late teens to early 20s.

"Cooler heads prevailed and both groups decided to go their separate ways," Monahan said.

But about an hour later both groups ended up at the Palms, Monahan said.

The men clashed inside a bar at the Palms, shouting and shoving each other. Casino security intervened and ordered them outside.

In the parking lot one man grabbed a knife, police said, and another man chased the knife-wielding man with a gun. The man with the knife was shot and killed as he jumped into the Mercedes.

It is not clear who owned the car.

Dixon was arrested about 9 a.m. and taken to Clark County Detention Center.

Monahan said it is not clear why the men were arguing.

"There was no indication of gang affiliation. When asked all of them denied being in gangs," he said.

A Las Vegas woman who declined to give her name said she was inside the casino gambling when she saw some a commotion outside in the parking lot.

She saw a group of men runing around and yelling.

"It looked like they were play-fighting," she said. "It didn't look like they were serious."

She and other patrons went outside to see what was going on.

A man dressed in blue went over to the Cadillac, which was parked in a handicapped parking space, she said.

He ran around the car as if he was looking for an open door, the woman said.

"One guy tried to hold him back and I heard him say, 'No man don't do it. Put the knife down.' "

As she turned to go back in she heard two or three shots.

"It was pretty scary," she said.

Police were questioning witnesses in the parking lot this morning and had taped off a large section of the parking lot where the Mercedes was parked.

Palms officials issued a statement this morning noting that the shooting "is unrelated to this weekend's Palms second anniversary party. The two men involved were not guests of our hotel or casino."

Other shootings in or around Southern Nevada casinos in recent years have included:

Three bikers -- two Hells Angels and one member of the Mongols -- were killed in the casino, and dozens were injured in the attack that sent hotel guests running for cover.