Shooting on Las Vegas Strip near Bellagio that killed 2 was livestreamed, police say
LAS VEGAS (AP) — The two people killed in a shooting over the weekend on the Las Vegas Strip captured it on video while livestreaming to their shared YouTube channel, according to a police report.
The married victims were identified by the Clark County coroner's office as Tanisha Finley, 43, and Rodney Finley, 44. Both died of multiple gunshot wounds.
Las Vegas police said the shooting on Sunday night near the landmark Bellagio fountains was an isolated incident between the victims and the suspect, who had been feuding on social media since at least 2023. The suspect, identified by police as Manuel D. Ruiz, surrendered to authorities Monday morning at a police station outside of Las Vegas.
Ruiz, 41, faces two counts of open murder with a deadly weapon and is being held without bail, jail records show.
The Associated Press sent an emailed message Thursday seeking comment from his public defender. Ruiz told police after his arrest that he was acting in self-defense, according to his arrest report.
The suspect is seen in the video livestream pulling a gun from his waistband, raising it and initially firing between five and six shots, according to a description of the video detailed in the report. One or two more gunshots can be heard in the video after Tanisha Finley is seen grabbing the cellphone that is being used for the livestream.
'The phone fell to the ground and remained still for a moment until a police officer appeared in the camera frame and turned off the livestream,' the report said.
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The couple's son was among the 911 callers to report the shooting, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported.
'I heard gunshots around him,' he says. 'I think he might have got shot, so I was just trying to check and make sure, just try to see if he's OK or where he's at.'
In his interview with police after he surrendered, the suspect said he also has a YouTube channel and had been livestreaming from the Strip on the night of the shooting. Ruiz told police began shooting because it looked like one of the victims was reaching for a weapon, according to the report.
Police said no firearms were found on the victims.
The shooting happened on one of the busiest stretches of the Strip. The dancing Bellagio fountains, which soar up to 460 feet (140 meters) into the air, play every 15 minutes on the weekends between 8 p.m. and midnight.
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