3 suspects in El Cortez shooting appear before Las Vegas judge
A judge set bail at $100,000 apiece on Monday for three men facing conspiracy and attempted murder charges in connection with a weekend shooting at El Cortez.
Travis Callahan, 35, Matthew Norris, 34, and Roberto Romero, 30, were arrested about 1 p.m. Sunday on the 1500 block of East Bonanza Road. Each faces four counts of conspiracy to commit murder and four counts of attempted murder with a deadly weapon.
Defense attorney David Chesnoff, representing all three men, indicated to Las Vegas Justice of the Peace Ann Zimmerman that they acted in self-defense.
“I have read the report,” Chesnoff said. “And having been involved in a lot of cases over the years of a similar nature, there is a significant self-defense defense here.”
Callahan lives in Las Vegas, working on the Resorts World project, while Norris and Romero live in Tucson, Arizona, Chesnoff told the judge.
The lawyer said Callahan, who was charged with driving under the influence of alcohol in December, has two children. Romero, a mechanic, has two children and no arrest history, while Norris has three children and works as a lead technician for a construction company, Chesnoff said.
The shooting, which the Metropolitan Police Department said resulted from a dispute between two rival motorcycle gangs, was reported about 1:45 a.m. Sunday at El Cortez.
Four people were wounded during the shooting, which police said was confined to the fifth floor of the downtown Las Vegas hotel-casino. One of those people was critically injured.
The conditions of the four injured people were not known Monday.
Anyone with information may contact Metro at 702-828-3251 or, to remain anonymous, Crime Stoppers at 702-385-5555.
Contact David Ferrara at dferrara@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-1039. Follow @randompoker on Twitter. Review-Journal staff writers Lukas Eggen and Rio Lacanlale contributed to this report.
