Las Vegas security guard makes court appearance in murder case
A security guard accused of fatally shooting a man on a sidewalk outside a Las Vegas shopping center faced a judge in his murder case Tuesday.
In a brief hearing, 26-year-old Brian Love told Las Vegas Justice of the Peace Pro Tem Nancy Oesterle that he understood the allegations against him.
Max Garcia, 27, was found dead on a sidewalk Saturday morning with multiple gunshot wounds at the Shadow Mountain Marketplace, 6475 N. Decatur Blvd. Metropolitan Police Department detectives suspect his body had been there for more than seven hours.
Police have said officers used security footage from the complex to determine that Garcia was shot and killed at 12:45 a.m. Police arrested Love, a security guard who was on duty at the time and assigned to patrol the shopping center.
Surveillance video showed Garcia and Love briefly talking before the guard opened fire, police said, but there was no indication that there had been a struggle. Garcia had been asleep on the sidewalk just prior to the shooting.
After that, the guard got into his security car and drove away, according to the video. Police found him Saturday evening at his apartment.
Love had been registered to work as an armed security guard for SOS Security, and was fired Saturday after his arrest, according to Kevin Ingram, the executive director of the Nevada Private Investigators Licensing Board.
Love is due back in court next month.
Contact David Ferrara at dferrara@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-1039. Follow @randompoker on Twitter.
