One man hospitalized following Sunday shooting
One man is hospitalized and one man is facing felony charges following a shooting Sunday evening on the west side of Las Vegas.
Dominic A. Lopez, 28, of Las Vegas, was arrested Sunday night and charged with one count of third-degree felony aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, and two counts of fourth-degree felony aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.
Chief of Police David Bibb told the Optic Las Vegas Police officers were dispatched to the Allsup’s on Hot Springs Boulevard and Mills Avenue around 8:30 p.m. Sunday.
Police arrived to find a man with two gunshot wounds, according to a probable cause statement filed in San Miguel Magistrate Court. The man, who the Optic is not identifying, was transported to Alta Vista Regional Hospital for treatment. Chief Bibb did not know the man’s condition.
Lopez told investigators he’d been on a ranch all day and had stopped at the convenience store to buy some beer, according to the probable cause statement.
He was about to leave when a silver vehicle pulled into the parking lot and parked on one side of him. At the same time, a black Jeep parked at the fuel pumps behind him.
A man approached him and struck him in the face, he told police. Moments later, another man started hitting him as well.
As he was being punched, Lopez reached into his vehicle to retrieve a holstered 9 mm Glock handgun, he said. He removed the gun from the holster, racked the slide to chamber a round and fired two shots “in an attempt to scare the people off,” according to the probable cause statement. One man was struck by both bullets.
Lopez admitted to pointing the gun at both men, and said he ordered them to get on the ground. He also admitted to pointing the gun at a woman who tried to help the man he’d shot.
Lopez told police he then realized that he knew the man, and that they were good friends.
He told investigators he then holstered the pistol, placed it on the ground and waited for police to arrive.
Police also interviewed the driver of the Jeep and a woman passenger.
She told police the driver had gone inside the store to pay for gas, and that while she was alone in the Jeep, Lopez began yelling at her. She said the other man confronted Lopez to see why he was shouting.
The driver of the Jeep said he heard Lopez and the man yelling as he walked out of the store. Lopez was in the driver seat of his vehicle, shouting out the open window, the man said.
Lopez reached for something, and exited the vehicle with a black handgun pointed at the ground. The man said Lopez racked the slide of the handgun and yelled, “You don’t want none of this.”
The driver of the Jeep said he attempted to disarm Lopez, and admitted to striking him in the process. A “short scuffle” ensued before Lopez fired two shots, striking the other man. The man was bleeding from the stomach, and from the face or neck, according to the probable cause statement.
Lopez was scheduled to appear in Magistrate Court Monday afternoon, but the hearing was canceled and rescheduled for Tuesday at 1:30 p.m., after the Optic’s press time. Lopez was booked into the San Miguel County Detention Center early Monday morning where he remained as of this writing, pending a hearing to set conditions of release.
