The Thai Buddhist Temple-Las Vegas, Wat Buddha Pavana, on Monday, Dec. 16, 2019, in North Las Vegas. North Las Vegas police said an arsonist set fire to a religious campus on the 2900 block of West Gowan. (Ellen Schmidt/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @ellenkschmidt_
The Thai Buddhist Temple in a March 17, 2017, file photo. (Las Vegas Review-Journal)
The Thai Buddhist Temple-Las Vegas, Wat Buddha Pavana, on Monday, Dec. 16, 2019, in North Las Vegas. North Las Vegas police said an arsonist set fire to a religious campus on the 2900 block of West Gowan. (Ellen Schmidt/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @ellenkschmidt_
The Thai Buddhist Temple-Las Vegas, Wat Buddha Pavana, on Monday, Dec. 16, 2019, in North Las Vegas. North Las Vegas police said an arsonist set fire to a religious campus on the 2900 block of West Gowan. (Ellen Schmidt/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @ellenkschmidt_
A Buddha statue has burn marks at the Thai Buddhist Temple-Las Vegas, Wat Buddha Pavana, on Monday, Dec. 16, 2019, in North Las Vegas. North Las Vegas police said an arsonist set fire to a religious campus on the 2900 block of West Gowan. (Ellen Schmidt/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @ellenkschmidt_
The Thai Buddhist Temple-Las Vegas, Wat Buddha Pavana, on Monday, Dec. 16, 2019, in North Las Vegas. North Las Vegas police said an arsonist set fire to a religious campus on the 2900 block of West Gowan. (Ellen Schmidt/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @ellenkschmidt_
The Thai Buddhist Temple-Las Vegas, Wat Buddha Pavana, on Monday, Dec. 16, 2019, in North Las Vegas. North Las Vegas police said an arsonist set fire to a religious campus on the 2900 block of West Gowan. (Ellen Schmidt/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @ellenkschmidt_
The Thai Buddhist Temple-Las Vegas, Wat Buddha Pavana, on Monday, Dec. 16, 2019, in North Las Vegas. North Las Vegas police said an arsonist set fire to a religious campus on the 2900 block of West Gowan. (Ellen Schmidt/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @ellenkschmidt_
The Thai Buddhist Temple-Las Vegas, Wat Buddha Pavana, on Monday, Dec. 16, 2019, in North Las Vegas. North Las Vegas police said an arsonist set fire to a religious campus on the 2900 block of West Gowan. (Ellen Schmidt/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @ellenkschmidt_
A man set fire to a Buddhist temple and a home Sunday night before apparently killing himself, North Las Vegas police said.
Just before 8 p.m. Sunday, officers responded to the Thai Buddhist Temple of Las Vegas, 2959 W. Gowan Road, after reports of multiple fires and the sound of gunfire, police said.
Officers learned a man set the fires and shot a gun toward at least one person at the temple, according to police.
North Las Vegas firefighters extinguished two fires at the temple before responding to another call at a home on the 3000 block of Logan Avenue. Occupants of the home escaped uninjured.
Police learned the same person started the fire at the house, according to a news release.
Investigators from the Metropolitan Police Department, FBI and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives joined North Las Vegas in looking for the man, who was found dead in a nearby backyard from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot.
Police spokesman Eric Leavitt said the man was 38 years old. The Clark County coroner’s office will release his identity.
Leavitt said an investigator determined the temple had about $100,000 worth of damage, and the house had about $20,000 of damage.
The ATF is leading the investigation into the fires, and North Las Vegas police are leading the investigation into the shooting.
Anyone with information may call North Las Vegas police at 702-633-9111. To remain anonymous, call Crime Stoppers at 702-385-5555.
