Man arrested after 2 shot on Las Vegas Strip was ‘just defending himself’

One of the two men shot by the same bullet early Monday on a Strip pedestrian bridge remains in critical condition, a University Medical Center official confirmed Tuesday.

The other man shot was listed in fair condition Tuesday.

The shooting happened about 2:20 a.m. on the bridge between Planet Hollywood Resort and The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas. Rashad Jackson, 26, was later arrested in connection.

Just before the shooting, surveillance footage shows four men riding up an escalator to the bridge, three of which were later identified as Jackson and the two later men shot, according to an arrest report obtained Tuesday by the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

Once on the bridge, footage shows Jackson and one of the other men yelling and pushing each other. Police said the fight may have been drug-related, as Jackson had a few bags of marijuana on him when he was arrested, and Jackson later told police he sells marijuana.

After the confrontation, a single shot was fired from about 20 feet away. The bullet went through one man’s abdomen, passed through him, then lodged itself into a second man’s chest. Both were taken to UMC’s trauma unit.

Jackson casually walked away from the scene, but was arrested in a nearby parking garage about 10 minutes later. He told police “no one puts their hands on him” and that he was “just defending himself.”

Jackson is being held at the Clark County Detention Center on two counts of attempted murder, two counts of battery with a deadly weapon and one count of carrying a concealed weapon without a permit. His felony arraignment was scheduled for early Wednesday.

Contact Rachel Crosby at rcrosby@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5290. Follow @rachelacrosby on Twitter.