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Gun battle on Vegas Strip, three killed in crash

Posted at 11:12 AM, Feb 21, 2013
and last updated 2013-02-21 16:37:15-05

(CNN) -- Three people were dead and at least three others injured after a shooting and fiery six-vehicle crash along the Las Vegas Strip in Nevada early Thursday, police said.

The incident began about 4:20 a.m. at a stoplight on Las Vegas Boulevard, when someone in a black Range Rover fired into a Maserati that also had stopped at the light, Las Vegas police said.

The Maserati moved into the intersection and collided with a taxi, starting a chain of crashes that involved four other vehicles, police said.

Fire swept through the taxi, where the driver and a passenger were trapped.

The taxi's two occupants and the Maserati's driver died, Las Vegas Police spokesman Jose Hernandez said. A passenger in the Maserati suffered gunshot wounds and was being treated at a hospital, police said, while at least two other people in the other vehicles suffered light to moderate injuries, they said.

Four of the gambling mecca's biggest casinos -- Caesars Palace, the Bellagio, Bally's and the Flamingo -- are perched around the corner where the shootings occurred.

Police said they have requested and received security-camera video from all four of those establishments as part of their investigation.

John Lamb, who was inside Caesars Palace, told CNN affiliate KLAS he heard the commotion and saw the taxi on fire from a window.

"There was a loud bang, and I hear two other booms. I looked out my window at Caesars Palace ... and could see the fireball," he told KLAS.

Police are looking for the occupants of the SUV, described as a black Range Rover Sport with tinted windows, large black rims and a dealer license plate not from Nevada, said police Sgt. John Sheahan.

Hernandez said he didn't have information on what led to the shooting. The names of the dead and the injured were not immediately released.

CNN's Miguel Marquez, Carol Costello, Jason Hanna and Deanna Hackney contributed to this report.