Las Vegas man arrested after allegedly firing gun into group of juveniles
LAS VEGAS, Nev. (FOX5) - A Las Vegas man is facing multiple felony charges after allegedly picking his stepson up from school and then firing his gun into a group of nearby juveniles.
Octavio Arredondo was arrested on November 1. He is facing three counts each of assault with a deadly weapon, discharging a gun from within a vehicle in a prohibited area, and child abuse. There is also an additional misdemeanor charge of discharging a gun where people might be endangered.
According to a police report, Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department officers were dispatched to a call of an illegal shooting on October 31 at approximately 2:25 p.m. LVMPD Fusion Watch had received a ShotSpotter notification when three gunshots were detected.
The next day, officers responded to Cortney Junior High School to assist the Clark County School District Police Department in reference to that shooting. Police said that several witnesses and victims were interviewed and investigators also reviewed video evidence from a residence nearby.
A witness who lives in the area told police that he heard “a group of juveniles fighting in the street” followed by three gunshots and a car driving away westbound on Brownwood Ave.
One of the juveniles who was fired at told police that he believed the suspect was the father or stepfather of another student at the school. Another juvenile witness confirmed that the suspect’s child was a fellow student at the school, adding that he was picked on and had been previously threatened.
LVMPD gang detectives were notified and took over the investigation. An examination of student records revealed an “ongoing feud” among the juveniles involved in the incident. Police said that some reports showed “bullying, fighting and racial slurs being said between the two parties.”
Investigators conducted interviews with three of the juveniles that were fired upon, including one minor girl who told detectives of “a fight that was supposed to have occurred between the Mexicans and the blacks.” She added that the altercation had been “brewing all year.” Multiple juveniles arranged to meet after school for a fight that never happened.
The juvenile witnesses also provided a description of the suspect that matched Arredondo. One told police that he saw the suspect “hang his arm out of the window and shoot a firearm back at him.”
On November 1, police conducted a vehicle stop on Arredondo and interviewed him. The police report noted that he was “uncooperative and needed some time to calm down.” He then denied ever leaving the house the day before and claimed that his wife and video would “show him at the house the entire time” during the shooting.
Police informed him that his vehicle had been present during the shooting and he said that “his wife could have been potentially driving the car.” Investigators told him that victims, witnesses, and video all identified him at the scene but he “repeatedly denied being involved” and “guaranteed” that no firearms would be found in his vehicle or residence.
Police executed a search warrant on Arredondo’s vehicle later that day and a detective found a tan FN 45 tactical handgun located in the center compartment. The firearm was “stowed away under the plastic centered dash protector,” police noted.
Arredondo has a preliminary hearing scheduled in Clark County Justice Court on November 21.
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