Las Vegas Sun
LAS VEGAS — Daniel Ortega entered Las Vegas Athletic Club armed with a rifle and after a brief verbal exchange with an employee, proceeded to fire 24 rounds, killing the worker and wounding several others Friday, Metro Police reported in a news release today.
As officers, including Kaid Urban, Skeeter Black and Aaron Javier arrived at the scene, Javier saw Ortega standing inside the front entrance and fired one round at the suspect through a window. Ortega then ran out of the business past the officers, where Urban and Black fired upon him. Ortega was hit and fell to the ground where officers were able to take him into custody, the release stated.
Through the course of the investigation, detectives learned that 34-year-old Ortega, of North Las Vegas, armed with an Olympic Arms PCR .223 rifle entered the business in the 1700 block of North Rainbow Boulevard shortly after 1:30 p.m. and walked to the front desk area. As he paced around the area, several people inside the business fled. An employee approached Ortega, and the two briefly exchanged words. The worker was identified by the coroner’s office as Edgar Quinonez, 31, of Las Vegas.
Quinonez fled, and Ortega fired, striking him, following him further into the business and continuing to fire. Ortega walked toward the front doors, continuing to fire rounds, the release stated. At some point, his weapon malfunctioned, and shortly after, he encountered the officers at the entrance. Video provided by Metro shows officers fire upon Ortega as he runs past them.
After subduing Ortega, officers located three people inside LVAC suffering from apparent gunshot wounds, including Quinonez, who was pronounced dead at the scene. The other two were taken to a nearby hospital. It was later discovered that a fourth victim also went to a hospital with nonlife-threatening injuries.
Urban, 29, has been with Metro since 2020; Black, 44, since 2015; Javier, 37, since 2016, according to Assistant Sheriff Jamie Prosser.
Prosser stated in a video that had Ortega survived, his charges would have included one count of murder with a deadly weapon, three counts of attempted murder and five counts of assault with a deadly weapon.
Prosser acknowledged there are still questions about Ortega’s motive, but that Metro has released all the information it has on the incident. She said the investigation is still ongoing.
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