Persons of interest apprehended
Police have arrested three out of five suspects in a shooting at Saracen Casino Resort in Pine Bluff, Arkansas over the weekend. Officials have not revealed the names of the individuals in custody.
Five men in their 20s fled the casino parking lot after the shooting late last week. Police identified the men as Kuro’n Lavell Brown, Tirek Langel, Dontarius Slater, Joshua McAfee, and Brandon Burnett.
Sequence of events
The shooting took place on March 11 outside the casino. Carlton Saffa, the casino’s chief market officer, said that the young men had a “bad attitude” inside the venue. One of the suspects reportedly ran into an ex-girlfriend and the men got unruly. Security eventually removed the group from the property.
When the men approached their vehicle outside to leave, another unit of security guards arrived on the scene in a pickup truck. The security guards were supposedly there to observe the men and make sure they left.
A person got out of the car and stood up with a gun in his hand.
It appeared that the men were leaving at first, but as they were exiting the parking lot, the vehicle stopped. A person got out of the car and stood up with a gun in his hand. This was when the exchange in gunfire began.
The incident took place just after 11pm. The Saracen Casino Resort shooting resulted in damage to an exterior wall of the casino and two cars in the parking lot. One security guard suffered an abdomen injury in the altercation. The victim received medical attention at the local hospital; his injuries did not appear to be life-threatening.
Saracen Casino Resort released a statement after the incident, saying the casino goes to great lengths to provide a safe environment with on-site security and other methods, including electronic surveillance.
“The safety and security of our guests and our staff is always our highest priority,” casino management said.
Security cameras captured the events. The footage is under review as part of the investigation.
Las Vegas shootings
Unfortunately, shootings are becoming common occurrences at casinos in the United States. Earlier this year, Las Vegas was subject to two different shooting incidents.
The first took place at the Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino, where police found a critically injured man in the parking lot in the early morning hours, just after reports of a shooting at the location began to come in. Police were unclear at the time as to what led to the shooting.
Just a couple of days later, a fight broke out on the casino floor of The Venetian. The individuals involved moved the fight outside after casino security forced the group to leave. Eventually, a struggle between two men resulted in a gunshot wound to one victim.
The victim was critical, but stabilized at the hospital. Police apprehended the gunman and one other individual after the suspects fled the scene.