Gun Arrests Continue on Las Vegas Strip With Memorial Day Ahead

Posted on: May 27, 2021, 04:16h. 

Last updated on: June 30, 2021, 09:34h.

Larry Henry Read More
Expertise: Commercial Gaming, Gaming Business, Legislation, Politics, Regulation.

As the Memorial Day weekend approaches, Las Vegas police continue to confiscate firearms and other weapons from criminal suspects near casinos on the Strip and nearby tourist areas.

Guns on Las Vegas Strip
Las Vegas police recently displayed these confiscated weapons on the hood of a vehicle. Police have removed firearms from several criminal suspects on the Las Vegas Strip in May. (Image: LVMPD)

Dori Koren, a Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department captain, recently tweeted several pictures of firearms and illegal narcotics retrieved during arrests. These newer tweets follow earlier ones with pictures of confiscated weapons, such as an AK-47 rifle.

In one new tweet showing firearms displayed on the hood of a vehicle, Koren wrote that officers from the Convention Center Area Command “recovered this small arsenal of illegal guns from a group of gang members.”

Koren’s Twitter account identifies him as a police captain “for the Las Vegas Strip.” His Twitter followers, totaling 672 on Thursday, include public officials.

Most of the major resorts in the Las Vegas Valley are on the Strip, outside city limits. The combined city-county police department, known locally as Metro, handles assignments throughout the area.  

Holiday Police Presence

With the three-day Memorial Day weekend on the horizon, Koren tweeted a brief video of a police detention van.

Our XL ‘ride share’ was busy this past weekend,” Koren wrote on May 24. “We’re probably going to bring out a couple extra for Memorial Day.”

As the Edgar Winter Group song Free Ride plays in the seven-second video, the words “Free for Criminals” appear on the screen. The Bellagio Las Vegas, a resort on the Strip, is visible in the background.

Doren calls this stepped-up police effort “Operation Persistent Pressure II.” Last year, after a surge in violent incidents, Metro launched a crime suppression program on the Strip and other tourists areas. The department called this program “Operation Persistent Pressure.” It ended in December. 

Unusual Weapons

Koren also tweets pictures of unique weapons, including a colorful handgun.

“We recovered this illegal firearm from a convicted felon out of Georgia,” he tweeted on May 24. “And yes, that’s pink camouflage!” 

Another unique weapon was a bat with barbed wire wrapped around it. This weapon is similar to one that a character named Negan carries on the AMC series The Walking Dead. Also pictured in the tweet is a long knife with a serrated blade.

“Nope, these are not movie props…they’re weapons,” Koren tweeted. He added that officers confiscated the bat and knife “in a road rage incident.”

Doren’s tweets also highlight drug arrests.

“Surprise…surprise…another illegal gun recovered,” he tweeted on May 18. “This (gun) was found in the backpack of a suspect that was illegally smoking marijuana in public.”

In another tweet, Koren wrote that police in one recent arrest confiscated two illegal guns, marijuana, and “a bunch of other drugs.”