Melissa Duran, Reporter
Witnesses Talk About Penthouse Strip Club Shooting
Updated:June 5, 2008 10:51 PM EDT
A 22-year-old adult entertainer said she performed for the suspect for nearly 45 minutes.
The suspect crashed his Hummer.
SWAT was called out to the scene.
The shooting incident of a Metro officer Thursday actually started inside the Penthouse Gentlemen's Club on Russell Road. Workers and guests ran for cover when the suspect opened fire.
Eyewitness News talked to three different people who were inside the club. All of them heard several gunshots and ducked for cover. They say there was an altercation inside right before the shooting, but none of them expected this.
Crime scene tape was placed all around the Penthouse Club after patrons and employees there were unexpectedly faced with gunfire from a patron.
A 22-year-old adult entertainer, who asked us not to use her name, said she performed for the suspect for nearly 45 minutes. She says he kept throwing hundred dollar bills at her and became more and more aggressive.
"He wanted to take me home. He wanted me to be with him and I was like -- this is crazy. I'm just an entertainer. I only work here. It was crazy," she said.
That's when she says the bouncers stepped in.
"I went to go check out and the bouncers had the guy on the floor. He was trying to come after me," she said.
Bouncers escorted him out. Robert White just happened to be walking into the club at the same time -- to pick up a friend. He saw everything.
"They were kind of like pushing him from behind. He didn't want to leave, but he wasn't being loud, saying anything -- nothing," said White.
White says after only a couple of minutes, gunshots could be heard. And they were getting closer by the second. Police say the suspect fired shots both outside and inside the club.
White immediately called 911 while running for cover.
"There was a total of like 7, 8, 9 shots, and I ran to the back and tried to get as many walls in between me and the gunshots as possible," he said.
"It was like a dream and everything is going really fast but it feels like you are going in slow motion. I was crawling to the dressing room as fast as I could," said the entertainer.
The suspect managed to get away. Nobody was injured. But they were all now part of a crime scene -- including White's truck that got hit with a bullet. And though they all survived, the shock hasn't gone away.
The entertainer said that the suspect had been drinking.
Eyewitness News contacted the club to see if they could give us a more detailed description of the suspect's behavior. They released the following comment:
The staff & management of the Penthouse Gentlemen's Club continuously strive to maintain a safe and comfortable environment for its employers and customers. That is the reason why the suspect in this unfortunate event this morning was evicted from our club. We are saddened by the circumstances that followed the eviction.
Regrettably, this incident has caused considerable trauma and uneasiness for our staff and their families. We wish to thank the Las Vegas Metro Police Department for their immediate response this matter and hope the wounded officer recovers as quickly as possible.