Suspect arrested in random shooting that killed 1 at convenience store
A 22-year-old suspect in a random killing outside a southwest Las Vegas convenience store was arrested Thursday afternoon following an hourslong manhunt, police said.
Metropolitan Police Department homicide Lt. Ray Spencer said the man, who had not been identified as of late Thursday, would be booked into the Clark County Detention Center on a murder charge and faces several counts of attempted murder.
He is accused of shooting a man in a car outside the Short Line Express Market, 7730 S. Jones Blvd., before going inside and shooting at other people, though no one else was hit.
The shooting, reported about 12:30 a.m., was remarkable and disturbing in its randomness and the fact that only one person was hit by bullets, Spencer said in a morning briefing.
“This could’ve been extremely worse,” Spencer said. “This is an extremely shocking situation.”
Police on Thursday morning released a photo of the shooting suspect taken from surveillance video, in which he is seen pointing a handgun in the store and wearing a tactical vest and a gun belt wrapped around his waist.
Immediately after the photo was publicized, police got a credible tip that led them to a neighborhood near West Eldorado Lane and South Lindell Road, Spencer said.
Detectives watched the home for hours and later moved in to arrest the man. A brief standoff ensued, and the man surrendered peacefully, Spencer said, crediting his family’s collaboration.
Spencer said the man is believed to have carried out an armed robbery in the area before walking to the store and opening fire.
He shot bullets into the driver’s side door of an unoccupied car, then walked up to an occupied car and did the same, Spencer said.
A man in the second vehicle, who was waiting for his girlfriend who had entered the store, died at University Medical Center from multiple gunshot wounds, Spencer said.
After the killing, the suspect proceeded into the store, which was occupied by multiple people, and shot down an aisle, narrowly missing a customer who was able to duck near a cooler, Spencer said. Other people ran out the back, and an employee hid in a refrigerator, he added. The suspect was seen leaving the area on foot.
Asked if the man was heard saying anything during the two-minute shooting, Spencer said Thursday morning that he was not “going to get into the specifics.”
“There were quite a few rounds that were fired,” Spencer said when asked about the approximate number of bullets shot.
Contact Ricardo Torres-Cortez at rtorres@reviewjournal.com. Follow him on Twitter @rickytwrites. Review-Journal digital content producer Lukas Eggen contributed to this report.
