Victim shot early Sunday morning

Nicholas White, 27, is facing first-degree murder and felony firearm charges after firing multiple rounds at a Clinton Township man in the parking lot of MotorCity Casino Hotel in Detroit, Michigan. The incident happened in the early hours of Sunday, March 21.

White pulled out a gun and shot McCants several times

White, from Detroit, appeared to have gotten involved in an altercation between the homicide victim Kermit McCants, 25, and a woman believed to be his girlfriend. As the verbal argument between the two men got more heated, police said White pulled out a gun and shot McCants several times, before fleeing the scene in his vehicle.

Medical officials rushed McCants to a local hospital to treat his multiple gunshot wounds, but doctors later pronounced him dead. Detroit police arrested White on March 22. Magistrate Millicent Sherman of Michigan’s 36th District Court arraigned the murder suspect on Wednesday.

Life in prison without parole likely

The Detroit News reports that the Michigan court has denied White bond. The suspect is scheduled to appear before Judge Ronald Giles for a “probable cause conference at 8:30 a.m. April 6 and a preliminary examination at 1:30 p.m. April 13.”

Under Michigan law, first-degree murder is a serious homicide charge stipulating life in prison without the possibility of parole for anyone convicted.

MotorCity Casino released a statement about the “incident in our parking structure.” The Detroit casino added that the “security of our guests and employees is our top priority”, and that it was fully cooperating with local law enforcement in the ongoing investigation.

Casino parking lot shootings a rising trend

The fatal shooting at MotorCity Casino is the latest in a growing trend of violent crimes that occur in casino parking lots or garages.

In January 2021, police discovered a gunshot victim in the parking lot of the off-Strip Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. One month later, medics rushed two men to hospital for emergency treatment for multiple knife wounds after a stabbing incident in the parking garage of the Nugget Casino in Sparks, Nevada.

Last year in November, a shootout in the Tropicana Las Vegas parking lot, believed by police to be a drug deal gone wrong, left at least one man with gunshot wounds. One month prior, a security detail employed by South Point Hotel Casino & Spa in Las Vegas shot and killed a hostile homeless gunman in the valet area of the property.

Sin City isn’t the only center for casino parking lot violence. Last October, over in Palm Springs, California, police shot and wounded two robbery suspects in the parking garage of Agua Caliente Casino.