Sep 28, 2008 12:29 pm US/Pacific
1 Dead, 3 Injured In Gang Fight At Morongo Casino
CABAZON
One person died from a stabbing, and three others were injured, in an apparent gang-related assault at a public cultural event being staged this weekend in a Casino Morongo parking lot, authorities said Sunday.
One person was stabbed in the chest, one was stabbed in the abdomen, and a third person sustained a broken nose in the incident, which was reported at 9:50 p.m. Saturday at the 18th Annual Thunder and Lightning Pow Wow, according to Riverside County sheriff's officials.
The two severely injured stabbing patients underwent emergency surgery at Desert Regional Medical Center in Palm Springs, according to sheriff's Sgt. Tony Greer.
Two other patients with minor injuries were taken to a hospital in the Pass area and later released, according to Greer.
One person died as the result of a stab wound, Greer said. Sheriff's officials released no specifics about which person died or where the individual was pronounced dead.
The people involved in the incident were not tribal members, nor residents of the Morongo Indian Reservation, sheriff's Investigator Juan Zamora said Sunday in a phone interview.
The three-day Pow Wow ends Sunday, according to Zamora and a Casino Morongo operator. The event is being staged behind the old Casino Morongo in the large parking lot north of Interstate 10 in the San Gorgonio Pass.
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