Sandy MaloneLas Vegas, NV – A 93-year-old man upset about water damage and flooding in his residence opened fire on his apartment building’s maintenance manager (video below).
The incident occurred at about 9:10 a.m. on Jan. 2 at the Vista del Valle apartments in the 400-block of West Viking Road near Arville Street, KTNV reported.
The entire incident was captured on the management office’s surveillance cameras and began when an elderly resident entered and asked to speak with the manager.
In the video, a woman is sitting behind a reception desk while the elderly resident – later identified as 93-year-old Robert Thomas – talked to the maintenance manager.
The woman secretly called 911 when the conversation between the manager and the old man became more combative and the resident began issuing verbal threats, KABC reported.
“The female caller stated that an elderly male, later identified as Robert Thomas, was armed with a firearm inside the management office and was making verbal threats,” a Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department spokesperson told reporters at a press conference.
Then the surveillance video showed Thomas casually pulled a black handgun from inside his coat and took a shot at a computer screen across the room.
The video showed the computer screen being hit by a bullet and then Thomas turned his attention back to the subject of his ire.
That’s when the receptionist asked Thomas if she could leave and the elderly man let her go, KABC reported.
Thomas then fired a shot at the manager at point-blank range, but bullet only grazed the manager, who fell to the ground.
The video showed as the elderly man stood over the wounded manager and shot him at point-blank range again, but the second shot was also only a graze wound, KABC reported.
Police bodycam video showed that officers could hear gunfire as they arrived at the office of the apartment building.
“Shots still being fired,” an officer later identified as 45-year-old Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Officer Ronald Hornyak told the dispatcher in the video, KTNV reported.
Then a second later Officer Hornyak said “we’ve gotta make entry.”
The video showed the officer pointed his weapon at the glass doors of the building and ordered Thomas to drop his weapon.
When the elderly man did not immediately follow orders, the officer fired one shot at the glass, the video showed.
The bullet shattered the door’s glass but did not hit Thomas.
Surveillance video inside the office showed the suspect did not put down his weapon until the officer made entry into the building.
The officer grabbed Thomas and dragged him outside the office and to the ground, the video showed.
The wounded apartment manager was transported to University Medical Center where he was treated for two graze wounds and released later that day, KABC reported.
Thomas was arrested and charged with attempted murder, discharging a gun in a structure, carrying a concealed weapon, kidnapping, and burglary with a deadly weapon, KTNV reported.
During his arrest, the elderly man told police that he didn’t intend to kill the building manager, but that he would shoot him again in the same situation.
Thomas appeared before a judge in a wheelchair and wearing headphones so that he could hear the proceedings on Jan. 7, KTNV reported.
“If I wanted to really harm him, I could have shot him between the eyes,” he told the judge during the hearing.
Thomas is being held on $25,000 bail but can be released on electronic monitoring if 15 percent of the amount is posted, according to KTNV.
Defense attorneys said that Thomas, who hasn’t seen a doctor in several years, may be suffering from mental illness.
Officials said that Officer Hornyak, who shot at Thomas through the glass door, has been a member of the Las Vegas police force since 2004, KTNV reported.
The officer has been placed on paid administrative leave while the investigation is conducted, as is protocol for all officer-involved shootings.
Watch the incident unfold in the video below: