'Intentional' Act Sends Car Into Las Vegas Strip Crowd, Killing One, Injuring Dozens

LAS VEGAS, NV - At least one person was killed and dozens more injured, several critically, when a car plowed into a crowd Sunday night in a horrific scene outside Planet Hollywood on the famed Las Vegas Strip during the Miss Universe pageant, police said.

The driver, a woman, was in custody and was being tested for drugs and alcohol, police said. Her three-year-old daughter who was in the car with her was unharmed, police said.

Police said the crash was not an act of terrorism, but that it apears intentional after an initial investigation.

“Everyone was running ... and as I was running, I saw a car up on the sidewalk coming toward us,” a witness told CNN. “I saw a lady, she didn’t seem like she wanted to stop the car, she had both hands on her wheel and she was looking straight forward.”

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The car “jumped the curb,” crashing into the crowd, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

University Medical Center spokeswoman Danita Cohen told Reuters that early indications were the injured on the Las Vegas Strip included men, women and one child. Many of the injured spoke French and requested translators, she said, indicating they could have been tourists visiting the area.

The crash took place at 6:38 p.m. local time, police said, as the 2015 Miss Universe pageant’s live taping was wrapping up inside Planet Hollywood, where Miss Philippines won the crown.

“What a tragedy,” Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn G. Goodman tweeted. “Our prayers and thoughts are with all so innocently and tragically affected in tonight’s #stripcrash.”

Police said that in addition to the fatality, “more than 37” more people were injured, several critically.

Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino is located on the iconic Las Vegas Strip, between Harmon Avenue and Flamingo Road, a block south of Caesar’s Palace and a block north of the MGM Grand.

South Las Vegas Boulevard was closed between Harmon and Flamingo while an investigation was being conducted, and delays were expected for several hours, police said.

Image via ‏@AyanaAmaechi, used with permission