The Adventuredome at the Circus Circus Hotel and Casino gave new meaning to adventure this past Saturday. The Las Vegas property has become the latest to be the center of unwanted attention as violence in the city has increased, thanks to a shooting incident that sent three people to the hospital. They were reportedly recovering from their wounds and a “person of interest” has already been apprehended.
The incident took place around 7:30 PM Saturday night and is said to have started due to a fight between two groups of people inside the facility. As the name might imply to most people, Adventuredome has a family-friendly atmosphere, and there were reportedly a number of families in attendance before and during the shooting. One person told local media outlet KLAS, “We had left to go to dinner. And then we came back… I saw people in tears, crying. This should be a family area, where all these kids play. And to know that people are out there just killing people — it’s not OK.”
Because Las Vegas has seen more violence than normal lately, which is said to be almost 30% higher than normal, the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department (LVMPD) has been involved in monitoring the streets and businesses, and had “a lot of cops” on the Strip this weekend. This was undoubtedly the reason the drama came to a quick end, with a suspect being arrested at around 10:30 Saturday night. There has been no new information regarding the individual’s identity or if he or she was the actual shooter, or just someone involved.
When the shooting started, Circus Circus decided to evacuate some guests as a precaution. It hasn’t provided any details of the incident and it isn’t clear how many people were evacuated or where they were assembled. It’s also not clear if COVID-19-forced social distancing and health protocols were enforced.
The increased presence by police has helped to cut down on violence in Las Vegas recently, making this the first incident in months. The LVMPD is working with other law enforcement officers and the Clark County Commission, as well as security staff at casinos and resorts, to curb the violence, and LVMPD Captain Dori Koren explains, “We’ve had tremendous success to getting it back to somewhat normal. The last few weeks have been pretty good for The Strip. We’re seeing tourism come back.” The last reported shooting took place in early October and Koren adds that everyone is “working very hard to get Vegas back to where it was before we shut down and before all the other issues in 2020 came up.”
