3 dead in rolling shootout in Las Vegas

LAS VEGAS, Feb. 21 (UPI) -- Three people were killed and three were injured Thursday in a shooting and multicar collision on the Las Vegas strip, police said.

Las Vegas Metropolitan Police said occupants of a Maserati sports car and a sport utility vehicle were involved in a shootout near Flamingo Road and Las Vegas Boulevard that led to the multiple-vehicle crash, KTNV-TV, Las Vegas, reported.

Police were searching for a black Range Rover with tinted windows, black rims and paper dealer license plates after shots were fired from the vehicle at the intersection in front of Bally's hotel casino across from the Bellagio and Caesars Palace. Six vehicles were involved in the crash about 4:30 a.m., KLAS-TV said.

The TV station said the driver of the Maserati involved in the shootout -- aspiring rapper Kenneth Cherry Jr., 27, of Oakland, Calif. -- was killed and a passenger was transported to a hospital. Cherry rapped professionally under the name Kenny Clutch.

Las Vegas police said a taxi, one of the vehicles in the pileup, caught fire and two people -- the driver and a passenger -- were reported dead.

Both the northbound and southbound lanes of Las Vegas Boulevard were closed in the area of the shooting and collision as police investigated the crime scene.