Nevada
Police: Man in law office shooting had two ‘very specific targets’
LAS VEGAS (AP) — A man opened fire Monday during a deposition hearing in a child custody case at a law office in an affluent neighborhood of Las Vegas, leaving two “very specific targets” dead before the shooter killed himself, police said.
Las Vegas police homicide Lt. Jason Johansson said at a news conference that the shooter, a man in his 70s, killed himself after shooting across the table and killing a man in his 50s and a woman in her 30s. Johansson said the shooting in the mid-rise office building in the Summerlin neighborhood happened several minutes after the hearing began Monday morning.
“It appears our two victims were very specific targets,” Johansson said.
Seven people were in the room at the time of the shooting, Johansson said. The four others, including a court reporter, were able to quickly escape and call police, he said, and the children at the center of the custody case were accounted for and safe.
Johansson did not identify the victims or shooter by name but said the shooting happened in suite No. 560, the address of Las Vegas attorney Dennis Prince’s law office, Prince Law Group.
“With profound sadness, Prince Law Group would like to thank everyone who has reached out to us with heartfelt messages of concern and sympathy over the tragic violence that occurred this morning in our offices,” the law group said in a statement Monday evening.
The Clark County Coroner’s Office said information on the victims and shooter was not immediately available.
Investigators searched the shooter’s vehicle, a red Ford Expedition, outside the six-story office building after the shooting, Johansson said. He didn’t say what was found inside.
New Mexico
State high court upholds murder convictions of man in 2009 double homicide
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — The New Mexico Supreme Court on Monday upheld two first-degree murder convictions of a man found guilty in a 2009 double homicide case.
Robert Chavez was convicted in 2022 in the killings of Max Griego Jr. and Mary Hudson Gutierrez and sentenced to two consecutive life prison sentences.
Chavez appealed the sentences to the state’s high court, saying there was insufficient evidence to convict him of the murders based on uncorroborated testimony from accomplices. His team also argued that the district court erred when it used segments of his recorded jail telephone calls as evidence.
But the Supreme Court ruled the accomplice testimony was corroborated, there was sufficient evidence to convict Chavez and the district court didn’t abuse its discretion in its evidentiary rulings.
Chavez’s sentences are running consecutive with previous sentences, including a 26-year prison term for drug trafficking and life in prison plus 21 years for another murder.
Prosecutors said Chavez was the leader of the “AZ Boys,” an organization allegedly connected to drug trafficking.
Court records show Griego and Hudson Gutierrez were found fatally shot in July 2009 at a home in Alamogordo, a small town about 90 miles (145 kilometers) north of the border. Two men plus a driver were seen fleeing the scene, according to the documents.
The case went cold for almost a decade until Chavez and two other suspects were indicted in January 2019.
Connecticut
Prosecutor says troopers cited in false ticket data investigation won’t face state criminal charges
ROCKY HILL, Conn. (AP) — Four state troopers who may have falsified data about traffic stops won’t face state criminal charges, Connecticut’s top prosecutor said Friday.
Chief State’s Attorney Patrick Griffin’s office said in a statement that none of the officers can be prosecuted due to the statute of limitations passing.
An independent investigation found the number of traffic stops some troopers reported was higher than the number they actually made.
“There was no referral to the local state’s attorney for review of the conduct in question in 2018 and as a result, the statute of limitations for state charges to be filed has passed,” the office said in a statement. “The Division has no comment on potential federal charges given the pending Department of Justice investigation into the matter.”
The independent investigation into tens of thousands of traffic stops followed an audit by UConn analysts that questioned whether troopers had been submitting inaccurate or false data. That included information required to be submitted by a law designed to look for possible racial profiling.
In their report, which was released in February, the investigators found that most errors were largely the result of data-entry mistakes and other mishaps, not an intentional effort by troopers to submit bogus information.
But it did refer six troopers and a constable to state police for further investigation.
The audit was spurred by a Hearst Connecticut Media report that said four state troopers in an eastern Connecticut barracks intentionally created hundreds of bogus traffic stop tickets to boost their productivity numbers. After internal affairs investigations, one trooper was suspended for 10 days, another was suspended for two days and the other two retired before the probe was completed.
A federal grand jury probe is ongoing.
Massachusetts
Explosive device thrown onto porch of Satanic Temple, say police
SALEM, Mass. (AP) — Someone threw an explosive device onto the porch of The Satanic Temple in Massachusetts at a time when no one was inside, and the device and damage it caused were not found until nearly 12 hours later, police said. No injuries were reported.
State police bomb technicians ensured that the device was no longer a danger, police said in a news release Monday. Police dogs swept the location for other devices, and the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives assisted. .
The device was thrown onto the porch at about 4:14 a.m. Monday and was not discovered until staff arrived about 4 p.m., police said.
Police did not provide details on the damage.
Police have responded to the temple previously for bomb threats and hate crimes.
Founded in 2013, the Salem, Massachusetts-based Satanic Temple says it doesn’t believe in Satan but describes itself as a “non-theistic religious organization” that advocates for secularism. It is separate from the Church of Satan, which was founded in the 1960s.
Police: Man in law office shooting had two ‘very specific targets’
LAS VEGAS (AP) — A man opened fire Monday during a deposition hearing in a child custody case at a law office in an affluent neighborhood of Las Vegas, leaving two “very specific targets” dead before the shooter killed himself, police said.
Las Vegas police homicide Lt. Jason Johansson said at a news conference that the shooter, a man in his 70s, killed himself after shooting across the table and killing a man in his 50s and a woman in her 30s. Johansson said the shooting in the mid-rise office building in the Summerlin neighborhood happened several minutes after the hearing began Monday morning.
“It appears our two victims were very specific targets,” Johansson said.
Seven people were in the room at the time of the shooting, Johansson said. The four others, including a court reporter, were able to quickly escape and call police, he said, and the children at the center of the custody case were accounted for and safe.
Johansson did not identify the victims or shooter by name but said the shooting happened in suite No. 560, the address of Las Vegas attorney Dennis Prince’s law office, Prince Law Group.
“With profound sadness, Prince Law Group would like to thank everyone who has reached out to us with heartfelt messages of concern and sympathy over the tragic violence that occurred this morning in our offices,” the law group said in a statement Monday evening.
The Clark County Coroner’s Office said information on the victims and shooter was not immediately available.
Investigators searched the shooter’s vehicle, a red Ford Expedition, outside the six-story office building after the shooting, Johansson said. He didn’t say what was found inside.
New Mexico
State high court upholds murder convictions of man in 2009 double homicide
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — The New Mexico Supreme Court on Monday upheld two first-degree murder convictions of a man found guilty in a 2009 double homicide case.
Robert Chavez was convicted in 2022 in the killings of Max Griego Jr. and Mary Hudson Gutierrez and sentenced to two consecutive life prison sentences.
Chavez appealed the sentences to the state’s high court, saying there was insufficient evidence to convict him of the murders based on uncorroborated testimony from accomplices. His team also argued that the district court erred when it used segments of his recorded jail telephone calls as evidence.
But the Supreme Court ruled the accomplice testimony was corroborated, there was sufficient evidence to convict Chavez and the district court didn’t abuse its discretion in its evidentiary rulings.
Chavez’s sentences are running consecutive with previous sentences, including a 26-year prison term for drug trafficking and life in prison plus 21 years for another murder.
Prosecutors said Chavez was the leader of the “AZ Boys,” an organization allegedly connected to drug trafficking.
Court records show Griego and Hudson Gutierrez were found fatally shot in July 2009 at a home in Alamogordo, a small town about 90 miles (145 kilometers) north of the border. Two men plus a driver were seen fleeing the scene, according to the documents.
The case went cold for almost a decade until Chavez and two other suspects were indicted in January 2019.
Connecticut
Prosecutor says troopers cited in false ticket data investigation won’t face state criminal charges
ROCKY HILL, Conn. (AP) — Four state troopers who may have falsified data about traffic stops won’t face state criminal charges, Connecticut’s top prosecutor said Friday.
Chief State’s Attorney Patrick Griffin’s office said in a statement that none of the officers can be prosecuted due to the statute of limitations passing.
An independent investigation found the number of traffic stops some troopers reported was higher than the number they actually made.
“There was no referral to the local state’s attorney for review of the conduct in question in 2018 and as a result, the statute of limitations for state charges to be filed has passed,” the office said in a statement. “The Division has no comment on potential federal charges given the pending Department of Justice investigation into the matter.”
The independent investigation into tens of thousands of traffic stops followed an audit by UConn analysts that questioned whether troopers had been submitting inaccurate or false data. That included information required to be submitted by a law designed to look for possible racial profiling.
In their report, which was released in February, the investigators found that most errors were largely the result of data-entry mistakes and other mishaps, not an intentional effort by troopers to submit bogus information.
But it did refer six troopers and a constable to state police for further investigation.
The audit was spurred by a Hearst Connecticut Media report that said four state troopers in an eastern Connecticut barracks intentionally created hundreds of bogus traffic stop tickets to boost their productivity numbers. After internal affairs investigations, one trooper was suspended for 10 days, another was suspended for two days and the other two retired before the probe was completed.
A federal grand jury probe is ongoing.
Massachusetts
Explosive device thrown onto porch of Satanic Temple, say police
SALEM, Mass. (AP) — Someone threw an explosive device onto the porch of The Satanic Temple in Massachusetts at a time when no one was inside, and the device and damage it caused were not found until nearly 12 hours later, police said. No injuries were reported.
State police bomb technicians ensured that the device was no longer a danger, police said in a news release Monday. Police dogs swept the location for other devices, and the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives assisted. .
The device was thrown onto the porch at about 4:14 a.m. Monday and was not discovered until staff arrived about 4 p.m., police said.
Police did not provide details on the damage.
Police have responded to the temple previously for bomb threats and hate crimes.
Founded in 2013, the Salem, Massachusetts-based Satanic Temple says it doesn’t believe in Satan but describes itself as a “non-theistic religious organization” that advocates for secularism. It is separate from the Church of Satan, which was founded in the 1960s.
