Police officers who responded to Sunset Park shooting honored

Clark County on Tuesday honored the police officers who performed first aid on two casino executives shot during a company picnic last month.

Park Police officer Anthony Guerrero was patrolling the south side Sunset Park when he heard three gunshots shortly before 6 p.m. on April 15.

“I could see two subjects down,” he said. “A lot of people fleeing to their vehicles.”

Guerrero called for backup, and soon Sgt. Wade Barnhart was on the scene.

With the shooter gone, the officers performed first aid on the two wounded employees of The Venetian.

Vice president of casino operations Mia Banks died from her injuries, but executive director of table games Hector Rodriguez survived.

The two officers said they did what anyone in law enforcement would do in the situation.

“Really, we were doing our job,” Barnhart said. “We’re not heroes. We’re not special. We’re just police officers.”

But county commissioners saw it differently. In a ceremony during Tuesday’s commission meeting Commissioner Jim Gibson hung a medal around each officer’s neck.

“You’ve set a worthy example of the kind of service that makes this an incredible community,” he said.

Police in Texas arrested the alleged shooter, casino dealer Anthony J. Wrobel, on April 19. As of Tuesday, Wrobel was fighting extradition and remained in the Oldham County Jail.

“It’s a matter of going through the legal process to be able to legally extradite him back to Las Vegas,” Las Vegas police spokesman Jay Rivera said. “In the meantime, he’s still there and we’re working on bringing him back.”

The Review-Journal is owned by the family of Las Vegas Sands Corp. Chairman and CEO Sheldon Adelson. Las Vegas Sands operates The Venetian.

Contact Michael Scott Davidson at sdavidson@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3861. Follow @davidsonlvrj on Twitter.