LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — Two suspects are now jailed in connection with the death of a woman who was fatally shot in downtown Las Vegas earlier this month.
The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department on Monday announced the arrests of Phillip Strong, 18, and Charles Wright, 20, as suspects in the killing of 29-year-old Hope Ritter.
Police noted Wright was already in custody in the Clark County Detention Center for unrelated charges. On Friday, police say he was re-booked into jail for open murder with a deadly weapon. Strong was arrested on Friday in North Las Vegas and booked into CCDC for open murder with a deadly weapon.
Friends and acquaintances of Ritter told Channel 13 she was a bartender at Atomic Liquors and had just gotten off work when she was shot.
"Metro (police) told us it was an act of just random violence," said Andrew Mendez, Atomic Liquors' general manager.
WATCH: Locals remember Hope Ritter after she was shot and killed in downtown Las Vegas
The shooting was reported at 2:34 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 15 in the 400 block of 11th Street, near Lewis Avenue.
Homicide detectives conducting the initial investigation learned Ritter and a friend were sitting in a vehicle and talking when two men walked past them. "Moments later shots were fired striking the victim," police stated in their initial press release.
Mendez and others who knew her remembered Ritter as a warm and welcoming presence who made others feel welcome.
Ritter also leaves behind a 10-year-old daughter. Mendez says the 29-year-old was also a full-time barber student just weeks from graduating when she was killed.
"Everything she did, she did for her daughter, to give her daughter a better life than she had, and that's how we want people to remember her," Mendez said.
Anyone with information that could help police in this investigation is asked the call LVMPD's Homicide Section at 702-828-3521 or email homicide@lvmpd.com. Anonymous tips can be made through Crime Stoppers by calling 702-385-5555 or online at crimestoppersofnv.com.
