Las Vegas Sun

March 18, 2024

7 shot after funeral for man stabbed to death on the Strip

Funeral Shooting

Nikki Villoria

Police said seven people were injured in a shooting Wednesday evening at Palm Mortuary north of downtown Las Vegas.

Palm Mortuary

Seven people were shot Wednesday evening after the funeral of a man who was stabbed to death last month on the Las Vegas Strip.

The victims were hospitalized with injuries that weren’t considered life-threatening, police said. Metro Police are looking for the gunman.

Officers responded just before 7 p.m. to Palm Mortuary, 1325 N. Main St., on the report of a shooting following the funeral of 21-year-old Andres Armando Elena. Elena died June 25 from a stab wound to the chest after an argument between two groups on the walkway between MGM Grand and New York-New York.

Police spokesman Bill Cassell said the gunman had been mingling with mourners at the funeral and appeared to be part of the group. He then pulled out a gun and began firing into the crowd.

The gunman fired multiple shots, striking seven people, including six adults and one juvenile, police said. The adults were taken to University Medical Center. The juvenile, whose age wasn’t available Wednesday night, was stabilized at North Vista Hospital, then taken to Sunrise Hospital and Medical Center.

Cassell said the gunman, described only as a Hispanic man wearing a red shirt, escaped after the shooting in a vehicle similar to a 1974 Chevrolet El Camino.

The vehicle was described as white, with doors that have a purple background and the number “7” in a brown, “smoky” color, police said. The car, which has chrome rims, was last seen southbound on Main Street.

Police aren’t sure whether the shooting was gang-related or what ties it might have to Elena’s stabbing death on the Strip. Metro’s gang unit was investigating.

Cassell said the gunman apparently acted alone in the shooting, but it wasn’t known whether a getaway driver was involved.

Police were interviewing several witnesses at the scene.

The June 25 stabbing on the Strip occurred during the early-morning hours and began with an offensive remark about a girl, authorities have said.

The incident allegedly began when 25-year-old Victor Quijano and his friends had a run-in with another group of people at the Miracle Mile Shops at Planet Hollywood.

A man, later identified as Steven Velasquez, allegedly said something about a female in Quijano’s group, prompting a fight in the mall area, according to the arrest report. Security diffused the fight by ordering Velasquez’s group to leave.

The two groups then ran into each other again on the walkway between the MGM Grand and New York-New York. That’s when a second fight broke out, resulting in the fatal stabbing of Elena.

Quijano allegedly said he stabbed Velasquez in self-defense and another man who was in front of him, police noted in their report. Quijano told detectives he did not see a weapon on the second man, who police believe to be Elena.

Quijano, of Las Vegas, was charged with murder with a deadly weapon, attempted murder with a deadly weapon and possession of a dangerous weapon.

“Quijano said he stabbed Elena to get him back,” police wrote in an arrest report.

Detectives found a black stiletto knife in the bushes near New York-New York about 20 to 30 yards from where police apprehended Quijano.

He is being held in the Clark County Detention Center without bail, according to jail records.

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