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Multiple Las Vegas showgirls were injured in a mass stabbing along the Las Vegas Strip outside Encore in Nevada, according to an ABC 13 reporter.
Las Vegas police Capt. Dori Koren said in an October 6, 2022, news briefing that there are eight total victims with two people deceased and three in critical condition. The other victims appear stable, he said. A kitchen knife was found at the scene. The suspect is in custody.
Two deceased victims have been named: Las Vegans Brent Allan Hallett, 47, and Maris Mareen Digiovanni, 30, according to the Las Vegas Review Journal.
Encore at Wynn Las Vegas is a resort/casino.
Koren would not confirm that the victims were showgirls or street performers. Those reports came from local journalists who spoke to witnesses at the scene, and it’s not clear how many of the victims were showgirls.
KTNV-TV reported that the suspect was arrested in front of Venetian and had “blood on his sleeves.” That station reported, per a witness, that one victim “appeared to have been stabbed in the Fashion Mall and was ‘laying on the ground near the shops.'”
Multiple 911 calls came in regarding a series of stabbings.
Here’s what you need to know:
The Showgirls Were Walking the Strip to Take Photos With Tourists
Dewaun Turner, 47, witnessed five of the stabbings, and told the Review-Journal that two people dressed as showgirls running while being chased by a man with a knife. One of them fell and was stabbed. He said the suspect then stabbed a man who was walking with a woman. The suspect then stabbed two other women, Turner told the newspaper.
A local journalist tweeted that the stabbings occurred when the showgirls were walking the strip to take photos with tourists.
“I just talked to a tourist from Montreal, he says he saw at least two showgirls stabbed on the Strip. The showgirls walk the Strip to talk photographs with visitors. He shared photo below of one being taken away on a stretcher @KTNV,” tweeted ABC 13 reporter Joe Moeller.
“#BREAKING I’m speaking w/ woman who says 4 injured showgirls work for her. She says the suspect had a knife & claimed he was a chef & wanted to take a picture with the showgirls, when they said no that is when the stabbings started, we are waiting for info from Metro now @KTNV,” he wrote.
Caution tape is blocking the Strip on the west and north side of Palazzo at this time. Showgirls I talked to say there are a number of locations where the stabbings took place @KTNV
Moeller added: “Caution tape is blocking the Strip on the west and north side of Palazzo at this time. Showgirls I talked to say there are a number of locations where the stabbings took place @KTNV.”
The Suspect Was Quickly Taken Into Custody, Police Said
I just talked to a tourist from Montreal, he says he saw at least two showgirls stabbed on the Strip. The showgirls walk the Strip to talk photographs with visitors. He shared photo below of one being taken away on a stretcher @KTNV
Koren said aid was rendered to multiple victims, and the suspect was quickly taken into custody. “Very tragically, two of them have passed,” Koren said of two of the victims.
“The scene is under control,” although part of Las Vegas Boulevard was shut down for investigatory purposes.
There are no more safety concerns, he said. He described the weapon as a “large kitchen knife.”
According to Reuters, the mass stabbing attack occurred in front of a casino along the Vegas Strip.
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