Sheriff: New Metro substation planned for 1 October memorial site

A new police substation is planned for the Las Vegas Strip near the site of the 1 October mass shooting, according to Sheriff Kevin McMahill.

McMahill said the planned substation will be similar to the kiosk erected outside Resorts World Las Vegas — a small but visible presence for officers to assist visitors and locals, rather than a full-scale command center.

“When we build the next [substation], it will be when we build the Vegas Strong Memorial,” McMahill said.

The sheriff said fundraising is ongoing for a memorial at the site of the Oct. 1, 2017, Route 91 Harvest festival shooting — where a gunman fired from the 32nd floor of Mandalay Bay into a crowd of country music fans. The shooting claimed 60 lives, including two victims who died from their injuries in the years that followed, and left hundreds more injured.

The Vegas Strong Fund, the nonprofit in charge of the memorial’s design and construction, is selling engraved pavers to support the project.

“The lessons of 1 October resulted in our community growing stronger than it’s ever been,” said Vegas Strong Fund chair Jan Jones Blackhurst. “A law enforcement facility at the Forever One Memorial, supported by broader technology upgrades planned by LVMPD along the South Strip, positions the memorial as a core operational hub for these future security enhancements.”

Blackhurst also said, “In a corridor transformed by new stadiums, resorts, and transit, this presence turns the lessons of 1 October into lasting protection.”

Officials expect the memorial to be finished by 2027, marking the massacre’s 10th anniversary.

McMahill also noted that resort property owners and developers have requested additional kiosks along Las Vegas Boulevard in the Strip corridor. Though the sheriff said he feels conflicted about the idea.

“If you’re going to have a station, you have to have staffing,” McMahill said. The Strip falls under Metro’s Convention Center Area Command, which covers the area bordered by Sahara Avenue to the north, Russell Road to the south, and Swenson Street and Valley View Boulevard to the east and west.

According to the department’s website, the Strip corridor has the highest population density of any area within Metro’s jurisdiction.

“I try to keep that two officers per 1,000 civilians ratio that we’re at,” he added. “I don’t have a lot of extra officers to just sit in a building and wait for people to come.”

Contact Akiya Dillon at Adillon@reviewjournal.com.