Transit bus video being reviewed by police from Las Vegas shooting
LAS VEGAS -- Transit bus video was being reviewed Monday by police and prosecutors ahead of an initial court appearance for a man suspected of killing one passenger and wounding another for what authorities called no apparent reason when the double-decker bus stopped during the weekend on the Las Vegas Strip.
The recording was considered evidence and was not being made public, Las Vegas police officer Larry Hadfield said.
Bus security video systems are equipped to record sound. But Hadfield said the suspected gunman, Rolando Cardenas, may not have said anything before he started shooting.
“There doesn’t seem to be anything that preceded it,” the Hadfield said. “There were no incidents prior that we know of.”
Prosecutors are expected to file murder, attempted murder, weapon and other charges Wednesday during Cardenas’ initial court appearance in Las Vegas.
The 55-year-old Las Vegas man refused for several hours to leave the bus surrounded by SWAT officers, and fired at least one shot during the standoff before his arrest Saturday afternoon, police said.
He was jailed without bail, and is expected to have a lawyer appointed to his case when he appears in Las Vegas Justice Court. Attempts to reach his relatives were unsuccessful.
“Any time something like this happens on the Las Vegas Strip we pay special attention,” Clark County District Attorney Steve Wolfson said. “Taking over a bus in the middle of the day and shooting someone in cold blood. We consider this one of our highest priorities.”
Gary Breitling, 57, of Sidney, Montana, died at University Medical Center of a gunshot to the chest, the Clark County coroner said. His death was ruled a homicide. Messages left at telephone numbers associated with Brietling and family members were not immediately returned.
A 39-year-old Las Vegas man who was wounded in the stomach was discharged from the same hospital, a spokeswoman said Monday. Police had said that man’s injury did not appear life-threatening. He was not identified.
Hadfield said homicide investigators were still trying to identify bus passengers and sidewalk pedestrians who fled when shots were fired.
The double-decker bus, dubbed the Deuce and operated by the Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada, had stopped near the Cosmopolitan hotel-casino in the heart of the tourist district when Cardenas stood up and fired several times, police said.
Assistant Clark County Sheriff Tom Roberts said the gunman did not fire all the bullets in his gun, but shot at least once at police during the standoff.
Police did not return fire. Roberts said it appeared Cardenas may have had “mental issues.”
Police said both shooting victims were seated at the back of the bus near Cardenas.