LAS VEGAS — A teenage girl was arrested after three horses participating in a barrel racing show in Las Vegas were found with knife injuries. 

Police were called around 2 a.m. local time Friday to a barn where horses participating in the National Barn Horse Association's Las Vegas Super Show were staying. 

Patrol officers responded and learned that three horses had suffered injuries from a sharp object that investigators believe were intentionally inflicted. 

The department’s Animal Cruelty Section was called to investigate.

During the investigation, detectives identified a teenage girl as a possible suspect. Police said the teen had access to the barn and investigators believe she used a knife to inflict multiple injuries on the horses.

The NBHA issued a statement on the incident, citing "the mistreatment of a limited number of equine athletes by an event competitor."

The horses' injuries were not considered life-threatening, authorities said, but they were unlikely to be able to compete. 

Detectives found the teen at a nearby hotel and took her into custody without incident. She was brought to Clark County Juvenile Hall.

The teen was booked on 12 counts of willful or malicious killing, maiming or torturing a horse, and three counts of felony malicious destruction of private property exceeding $5,000.

The investigation remains ongoing.