A Las Vegas landlord reportedly shot dead two tenants and put a third in hospital after saying he would “handle” a dispute over unpaid rent “his way.”
Arnoldo Sanchez, 78, faces two murder charges and an attempted murder charge after an argument about rent arrears descended into a bloodbath in the early hours of Tuesday morning.
Police were called to the scene at around 12.30 a.m. after gunshots were heard at a three-bedroom house on Chicago Ave., near the Strat Hotel and Casino, Fox 5 Vegas reported.
Sanchez had been renting rooms in the property to two women in their fifties and a man whose age is yet to be confirmed, according to the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department (LVMPD).
Cops arrived at the residence to find one of the women in the driveway suffering from a gunshot wound, LVMPD Lt. Ray Spencer said. The woman was pronounced dead at the scene.
(Ken Ritter/AP)
Shortly afterwards, a man emerged from the house with nine gunshot wounds. He was taken to hospital in critical condition, but police said he is expected to survive.
Sanchez barricaded himself inside the residence but eventually surrendered and was taken into custody, Spencer said.
When officers entered the home they found the other female tenant dead from gunshot wounds.
The two female victims are yet to be identified.
Sanchez had allegedly become angry about unpaid rent in the days leading up to the shootings, according to an arrest report.
A witness interviewed by police advised Sanchez simply to evict the tenants, but the landlord reportedly said he would “handle this his way.”
Police said he argued with at least one of the female victims about the money owed before reaching for his gun.
A boyfriend of one of the victims who was inside the property at the time told police that he saw his girlfriend leave the house before hearing several gunshots.
The boyfriend said Sanchez appeared in the hallway moments later “smiling and laughing,” the arrest report states.
He then said the male tenant came out from his room and was told by Sanchez that “he would not be able to run from him anymore.”
According to the eyewitness, Sanchez pushed the man back into his room before gunshots rang out.
Police later found a semiautomatic handgun believed to be the murder weapon hidden in a bush near the property.
Sanchez’s first hearing is scheduled for Wednesday morning, court records show.