LAS VEGAS (KSNV MyNews3) -- The shooting and fiery crash on the Las Vegas Strip seem to make up part of a string of recent violent incidents in the area.
But Metro and the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority are adamant that the chaos unfolding in the streets Thursday was an isolated incident, and that violence over the past months was not random but rather targeted to specific people.
Besides Thursday’s incident that killed three, there was Saturday’s attack at The Hotel at Mandalay Bay where a man was stabbed in an elevator.
About a week before that, two people were critically hurt after a shooting in a parking garage near a strip movie theater.
Late December, Brenda Stokes Wilson -- who is accused in the murder of a 10-year-old girl – is also accused of using razor blades to slash the face of a blackjack dealer at the Bellagio.
Despite these violent acts, Metro Sheriff Doug Gillespie says the strip is safe.
“I've been asked by many of you this morning, is the Las Vegas Strip safe? Yes it is,” he said. “As you all know, there are no absolutes when people's behavior is in question.”
Metro points out that in most of the recent cases happening on the Strip, the suspect and the victim knew each other, including one that happened in December inside the Excalibur when a man shot and killed his ex-girlfriend then turned the gun on himself.
Most tourists say safety a concern everywhere, not just on the strip.
The LVCVA also released a statement, saying Las Vegas is "among the safest destinations in the world."
It also included recent statistics from Metro saying violent crime in the tourism corridor was down 13 percent last year and about 11 percent so far this year.
