Las Vegas bus passengers duck for cover as bullets fly: ‘I wake up shaking at night’
LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — Video the 8 News Now Investigators obtained shows teenagers engaged in a shootout as RTC bus passengers duck for their lives.
The video is part of the criminal case against Chase Riven, 19. Clark County District Court Judge Jasmin Lilly-Spells sentenced Riven to 2-10 years in prison Wednesday as part of a plea deal.
Las Vegas Metro police arrested Riven on July 14, 2023, minutes after he fired several gunshots at another teenager and into the bus, police said. The shooting happened around 6:30 p.m. during the evening rush hour.
Surveillance video the 8 News Now Investigators obtained shows a typical bus ride turning atypical. The video begins as the bus stops near the intersection of Karen Avenue and Lamb Boulevard in the east valley. The driver then opens the doors and attempts to help a wheelchair-bound passenger.
A young man wearing a backpack then gets on the bus as two teenagers follow him. One of the teenagers is Riven, according to police. Riven and his co-conspirator, Nehemiah Richardson-Bility, 18, attempted to rob the victim of his necklace and phone, police said. They are unsuccessful and the video shows the scuffle moves from the bus onto the sidewalk. Richardson-Bility’s name was not made public at the time of the incident due to his age at the time of his arrest.
The video then records the sound of several gunshots as bus passengers duck for cover. The wheelchair-bound passenger – still strapped into his seat – ducks as far down as he can as bullets fly just feet away.
Three bullets hit the middle of the bus, police said, estimating more than a dozen were fired. The young robbery victim also fired a weapon toward the two teenagers in self-defense, police said.
Last year, Riven took a plea deal on charges of conspiracy to commit robbery and discharging a weapon at or into an occupied structure, vehicle, aircraft or watercraft, records said. As part of the deal, Lilly-Spells could have sentenced Riven to probation.
In an earlier hearing, Riven told the judge he was under the influence and hanging with the wrong crowd.
“I wasn’t in the right state of mind that day,” he said. “I wasn’t around the right people and stuff.” Chief Deputy District Attorney Nicholas Portz said Riven and Richardson-Bility were lucky no one was hurt.
“It is simply by the grace of God that he did not hurt or kill someone with all the bullets that flew into that bus,” Portz said. At an earlier hearing, a passenger told Lilly-Spells she would never forget the shooting.
“I wake up shaking at night if there are sudden booms or fireworks going off because I’m traumatized from the sounds,” Laurie Johnson said.
As Wednesday’s hearing closed, Riven gave the finger to an 8 News Now camera, seemingly upset with the sentence and the media coverage.
In February, Clark County District Court Judge Eric Johnson sentenced Richardson-Bility to 2-10 years in prison, the same sentence Lilly-Spells gave Riven on Wednesday.
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