On April 27, 2002, the River Run riot at Harrah’s Casino & Hotel in Laughlin, Nevada, erupted during the Laughlin River Run event. The confrontation between Hells Angels and Mongols motorcycle club members turned deadly; three people were killed. Robert E. Fess Tumelty, 50, a Hells Angels member, was one of those killed. Two others were Jeramie Bell, 27, also a Hells Angels member, who was shot to death, and Anthony Barrera, 43, a Mongols member, who was stabbed to death.

The melee involved a wide array of weapons. Police recovered many abandoned items on the casino floor, including 14 guns, 107 knives, 2 hammers, 2 wrenches, and 9 flashlights. Efforts to prosecute those responsible were hampered by jurisdictional disagreements between Nevada state authorities and the federal government; by April 2003 no charges had been filed in connection with the riot deaths. Subsequent federal investigations, including an ATF operation called Black Biscuit, produced arrests and convictions of several Hells Angels members on various charges, but those actions did not result in prosecutions directly tied to the killings at the River Run riot.

If anyone has information about Tumelty or the events that night, please share what is known.