1 dead, 2 critically injured, in shooting at Henderson gas station
One person was killed and two were injured after an employee allegedly opened fire at a Henderson gas station Friday morning, police said.
At 9:50 a.m., the Henderson Police Department received numerous 911 calls reporting that shots had been fired at Terrible’s Car Wash & Lube on the 4000 block of East Sunset Road, near North Green Valley Parkway.
Police spokesman Rod Pena said the suspected shooter, an employee at the gas station, was in custody Friday. Henderson police identified the suspect as 22-year-old Rafael Valdez. He will face a charge of murder with a deadly weapon and will likely face additional charges, Pena said.
It wasn’t immediately clear what led to the shooting.
Two of the three people who were shot were critically injured and were taken to Sunrise Hospital and Medical Center, while the third victim was taken to Henderson Hospital with unknown injuries, Pena said. One of the three later died of their injuries, Pena said.
Police initially believed that four people had been shot, but only three victims were found at the scene, police said.
Julio Cesar Arguello, a gas station employee who works in the adjoining car wash, told the Las Vegas Review-Journal that he and several other employees, including one of the injured victims, ran north on Annie Oakley Drive after hearing gunshots.
He said a nearby business let them inside an office to wait until police arrived and that the business owner wrapped the victim’s wounds.
In early January, another shooting at a Terrible Herbst’s gas station in the west valley left one employee dead after an apparent botched murder-suicide.
The cashier, Weldeyoanes Zelealem, died at the scene after her estranged husband, 57-year-old Abebe Y. Teferi, entered the attached market at 9475 West Desert Inn Road and fired at least four rounds, police said. Teferi then sat on the floor and turned the gun on himself, but survived his injuries.
Jail records show Teferi is facing one count of first-degree murder and is due in court Wednesday morning.
Contact Rio Lacanlale at rlacanlale@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0381. Follow @riolacanlale on Twitter. Review-Journal staff writer Mike Shoro contributed to this report.
