Edgar Samaniego: Suspect Identified in Las Vegas Shooting

Edgar Samaniego, the man accused of shooting a Las Vegas Metro Police officer in the head at a George Floyd protest on the Las Vegas Strip on June 1, is to be held without bail following a Las Vegas Justice Court ruling this morning.

Prosecutors and the Clark County Public Defense asked for a $1 million bond and $100,000 bail respectively, according to The Las Vegas Sun. Judge Joe Bonaventure will set bail at a future hearing.

The 20-year-old Samaniego appeared in court at 9 a.m. on June 3 on one count of attempted murder and two counts of discharging a gun where a person might be endangered, according to records.

Here is the jail booking sheet for Samaniego.

Clark countySuspect’s jail booking information

Police say the critically injured officer, who is presently on life support, was shot in the back of the head by Samaniego in front of Circus Circus Casino. According to the Review Journal, the officer was identified as Shay Mikalonis, 29, who has been an officer since 2016 and is “assigned to the department’s Convention Center area command.”

Another shooting occurred around the same time, at 11:30 p.m., and in the same vicinity, in front of the Federal Courthouse on Las Vegas Boulevard South.

Here’s what you need to know:

Court Records Show Samaniego Was Free on an April Criminal Case at the Time of the Shooting

Clark CoClark Co Court records

According to Clark County court records reviewed by Heavy, Samaniego has a previous criminal case from April 2020.

Court records say that he was accused of possession of a dangerous drug without a prescription and DUI, 1st offense. On April 2, he was given $2,000 bail. The charges are a “gross misdemeanor” and “misdemeanor.”

“A criminal complaint in the drug case had not been filed as of Tuesday,” according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, which says that Samaniego posted the bail amount and had been out of custody since early April.

Clark CoCourt records for Edgar Samaniego.

The current charges, including attempted murder and two counts of discharging a gun or weapon where a person might be endangered, are a felony and two “gross misdemeanor” counts, online court records say.

Heavy reported earlier today that the officer who was shot is in a critical condition at University Medical Center, as confirmed by Clark County Sheriff Joe Lombardo.

Lombardo said at the press conference that another man “armed with multiple firearms and appeared to be wearing body armor,” and who Lombardo believed was involved in the Las Vegas George Floyd protests, was shot by police in the Courthouse incident.

Video Showed the Scene of the Shooting

Video has been posted of a livestream from outside the Federal Courthouse which appears to capture the moment when one of the shootings occurred. The camera is turned away but shots can clearly be heard in the video at 02:19:50:

Lombardo explained the two incidents:

Last night, Metro Officers were attempting to disperse a large crowd, and were taking rocks and bottles from the crowd. Officers were attempting to get some of the protesters in custody when a shot went out, and one of our officers went down. The officer … was transported to University Medical Center in critical condition.

The suspect has been identified and … taken into custody.

The second incident was an officer-involved shooting that occurred at the 300 Block of Las Vegas Boulevard. LVMPD and Federal Officers were posted at the stairs to the Federal building to protect (it.)

At approximately 11:22 p.m., officers encountered a subject armed with multiple firearms who appeared to be wearing body armor.

During the interaction, the subject reached for his firearm, and the officers engaged with him. The suspect was struck by gunfire and transported to the hospital, where he was pronounced deceased.

This is a sad night, and a tragic night for our community … with these protests, one tragedy is only leading to another. What has occurred is utterly unacceptable.

More information will be posted on this story as it develops.

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