Candlelight vigil honors man killed in shooting near Caesars employee parking garage
Nearly 300 people gathered for a candlelight vigil earlier this week for a man who was shot and killed near the Caesars Palace employee parking garage Friday night.
Just after 7 p.m. Tuesday, members of the California-based China-Inbound Travel Association and some Las Vegas residents came together near the intersection of Frank Sinatra Drive and Jay Sarno Way, to pay their respects to Fuli (Jeffrey) Ji, 52, of Chino Hills, California.
Ji, a tour guide and bus driver with the travel association, was in Las Vegas on business when he was killed.
Flowers, candles, two banners, a large portrait of Ji and his tour guide license decorated the vigil, where a traditional ceremony was performed to honor Ji. Those attending gave three bows to demonstrate their highest respect for Ji.
After the ceremony, a group of friends who said they’ve known Ji for about 10 years remembered him as an honest, good-natured person who always wore a smile.
Ji died Friday night after a shooting near a Caesars Palace employee parking garage located in the 3500 block of Las Vegas Boulevard South. A motive has yet to be determined in the case, police said.
Police received a call reporting a shooting near the garage at about 11:35 p.m. Friday, according to an arrest report from the Metropolitan Police Department’s homicide section. Arriving officers found Ji suffering from multiple gunshot wounds and covered in blood near a black Mercedes van parked outside the parking garage.
He was pronounced dead on the scene by medical personnel, the report said.
A 911 caller directed arriving officers to the second floor of the employee parking garage in the area where the suspect was last seen walking. The officers located the suspect, later identified as Charles Smith, 27, of Las Vegas, spraying a fire extinguisher in the air and beating a white Chevrolet Corvette with it, the report said.
The officers took Smith into custody without further incident. One officer spotted a handgun in Smith’s right front pants pocket, the report added. Another officer, wearing latex gloves, removed the gun from Smith’s pocket and placed it on the ground.
An investigation by the homicide section indicated the shooting took place inside of the van. Surveillance tapes showed the black van with California plates had been parked at the same location for more than three hours before the shooting took place.
Witnesses recalled hearing gunshots and seeing Ji falling out of the van’s passenger side, and a man exited the van, and walked over tot Ji’s body with an orange handgun in his hand, the report said.
Smith was arrested and taken to the Clark County Detention Center. He faces one count of first degree murder with use of a deadly weapon.
Contact Raven Jackson at rjackson@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0381. Follow @ravenmjackson on Twitter.
