A twist of fate saved the boss of a UK IT distributor from a hail of bullets that killed rapper Kenny Clutch on the Las Vegas Strip.

The drama unfolded early on Thursday morning when a gunman in a black Range Rover opened fire on the hip-hop star's Maserati. Clutch, who was at the wheel of the flash motor, was fatally shot and smashed his $120,000 car into a taxi, killing the cabbie and his fare in the ensuing fireball.

Chiltern IT chief Tony Price, who was staying in Vegas for a HP Global Partner Conference, would have been caught up in drive-by had he not had a split-second change of heart.

The distie boss was on a 5am run from his hotel at the time of the shooting, and his regular circuit route would have taken him into the path of the deadly bullet-storm had he not decided to go in the opposite direction that morning.

"I couldn't be bothered with the usual route. I wanted to stay on the streets rather than go through the hotels," Price told The Channel. "If I had gone the other way I might have been caught up in it."

The managing director of the UK spare parts biz found police closing off the intersection of Las Vegas Boulevard and Flamingo Road as he completed his run on the way back to his hotel. He also tweeted pictures of the aftermath.

Range rover sport shoots at Maserati crashes into taxi which explodes! #vegasshooting twitter.com/Priceee/status…

— Tony Price (@Priceee) February 21, 2013

The Clark County Sheriff's department said it has few leads on the shooter and the Range Rover, but a multi-state investigation has been launched.

Price was not fazed by his brush with death - men in the channel are made of stern stuff - and claimed: "I survived the M25 this morning and count myself lucky." ®