Local man shot multiple times while vacationing in Las Vegas over the weekend

REXBURG – A Rexburg man is back home after surviving a shooting in Las Vegas over the weekend.

Kenneth Tyler Sommer was reportedly caught in the crossfire as an argument broke out and was hit three times. Another victim was killed during the incident.

A family member tells EastIdahoNews.com that Tyler, as he’s known to friends and family, was on vacation with his wife, Taylor, and a group of friends. On Sunday around 2 a.m., the couple was on Fremont Street in front of a kiosk picking out souvenirs for their kids when a fight suddenly broke out between several people in the crowd.

It’s not clear what it was about, but a video from 8 News Now in Las Vegas shows at least three people were involved.

“The investigation by the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department Homicide Section indicates a fight broke out between several people in the Fremont Experience. During the fight, one of the suspects pulled out a handgun and began firing. The victim who died was involved in the original altercation,” according to a news release from the police department.

8 News Now in Las Vegas reports the victim who died was 23-year-old Raymond Renova, a tattoo artist who lived in the area.

As the fighting started, a family member reports Taylor immediately grabbed Tyler’s arm, who was focused on what he was doing and not paying attention to the fight.

“(Tyler) came around the kiosk and he took two steps forward to look (at what was going on). As he starts to turn away, he heard (gunshots) and instantly felt it,” according to the family spokesperson.

The first shot hit Tyler right in the abdomen above his belly button. As he grabbed his stomach, a family member says he felt another shot in his right leg below his knee.

He was trying to move out of the way and that’s when a third shot hit him in the left foot.

“A first … he thought his foot got blown off because he said that hurt the most,” the family member reports.

But the bullet didn’t actually penetrate his foot. It ricocheted off his boots, which you can see in the photo above, and took his legs out from under him, causing him to fall.

“It definitely bruised the absolute hell out of the out side of my left foot,” Tyler posted on Facebook early Monday morning.

Later, when the shock had worn off, the family member says Tyler described what felt like a burning sensation in his abdomen like it was on fire.

More footage of the fight and shooting at the Fremont Street Experience last night. (Warning: violent content) pic.twitter.com/Ud85MqyhDt

— Las Vegas Locally ? (@LasVegasLocally) June 19, 2022

As all of this was happening, the crowd was running away, including Taylor. It only took her a moment to realize Tyler was not with her. She turned around, saw him lying on the ground and ran over to him.

A police officer came to Tyler’s aid a few moments later.

“He was trying to push against Tyler’s stomach to stop the bleeding and he kept apologizing because he knows he’s causing Tyler more pain, but (Tyler) kept telling him, ‘Push as hard as you can. I’m a dad. I don’t want to leave my kids,'” the family member explains. “He truly felt like he was dying.”

The officer removed his belt to make a tourniquet to stop the bleeding in Tyler’s leg before he was rushed to the hospital.

Doctors performed surgery on Tyler’s abdomen and determined the bullet fractured the top part of his pelvic bone but narrowly missed his joints and other vital organs, the family member says.

They also discovered the bullet in his leg fractured the bone, leaving him with a broken leg.

There was a frenzy of people at the hospital and since Tyler’s injuries were not life-threatening, doctors were forced to move on to other patients, according to the family member.

After two nights, Tyler wanted nothing more than to return home to familiar territory.

A family member says he arrived home around midnight Tuesday morning with the bullets still lodged in his leg and abdomen. He is scheduled to meet with a doctor in Rexburg on Tuesday afternoon.

“He can’t walk. We’ve had to find a wheelchair for him. As long as he’s sitting in a wheelchair, he’s fine for the most part … but we all know he should be lying in a hospital bed,” a family member says.

As of Monday afternoon, no one has been arrested in connection with the shooting. Police are still searching for the suspect, according to 8 News Now.

As the family member recalls everything that took place, she’s grateful Tyler is safe, but she’s frustrated that first responders have not made him aware of any financial resources that might be available for shooting victims.

“It’s hard for him to focus on recovering. All he keeps thinking about is … how he’s going to get his work done. That’s not something he should have to worry about right now,” she says.

The family member says Tyler is not one to ask for help or use GoFundMe, but for anyone who feels inclined, she is asking on his behalf to make a donation to Taylor’s Venmo account to help with medical expenses.

Anyone with any information about this incident is urged to contact the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department Homicide Section by phone at (702) 828-3521 or by email at homicide@lvmpd.com.