Las Vegas Homicide: Man Dead, Wife Critical After Son Shoots Them During Family Gathering

A man killed his father and shot his mother during a family gathering at a home in Las Vegas on Saturday afternoon.

In a press release, the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department said several relatives had gathered at the home for a cookout when a fight broke out between the accused, identified as 30-year-old Alfonso Fernandez, and the family members. The accused then took his father into the garage where he shot him with a handgun. After shooting the father, the man walked into the living room. He saw his mother and shot her.

Las Vegas Police Lt. Ray Spencer said officers responded to the home and found two people with multiple gunshot wounds. While the father, who was in his 70s, was declared dead at the scene, the mother, believed to be in her late 50s, was rushed to a local hospital where she underwent an emergency surgery. The mother was listed in “an extremely critical condition.”

Police confirmed that nobody else was injured in the incident. The identity of the victims was not revealed. The accused was arrested on a count of open murder and attempted murder and booked into Clarke County Detention Center.

Las Vegas police asked “anyone with any information about the incident to contact the LVMPD Homicide Section by phone at 702-828-3521, or by email at homicide@lvmpd.com. To remain anonymous, contact Crime Stoppers by phone at 702-385-5555.”

Meanwhile, Spencer said though it is a difficult time for people as they have to stay at home due to coronavirus outbreak, this should never give rise to violence of any kind.

"It can be very stressful, but you can take a walk, there are many avenues for people to turn to," he said.

The incident comes less than 10 days after a man in Las Vegas fatally shot his two teenage sons before turning the gun on himself. Police responded to a home after receiving reports of gunshots being fired. The responding officers found a teenage girl getting out of the home through the window. The girl told the officers that her two brothers were inside the residence and that her father had opened fire at them. When the officers entered the home, they found the two boys dead. The father’s body was also found with a self-inflicted gunshot wound.