Man found competent to face charges in Chinatown restaurant shooting
A man accused of shooting a waiter during an alleged robbery attempt at a western Las Vegas restaurant has been found competent to face charges in the case.
Police said Rashawn Gaston-Anderson, 24, walked into an unlocked back door of the ShangHai Taste restaurant, 4266 W. Spring Mountain Road in the city’s Chinatown district, just before 3 a.m. on Dec. 20 and shot Chengyan Wang 11 times. The waiter underwent multiple surgeries at University Medical Center and since has been released from the hospital.
Following a mental health evaluation, Gaston-Anderson was found competent to face charges of attempted murder with a deadly weapon, attempted robbery with a deadly weapon and battery with a deadly weapon resulting in substantial bodily harm in connection with the restaurant shooting, as well as three other active cases he has in Las Vegas Justice Court, District Judge Christy Craig said during a court hearing on Friday.
Gaston-Anderson and his public defender appeared in court through a video call on Friday.
The victim told police that he stood in “shock” while a man demanded money from him during the robbery, according to a Metropolitan Police Department arrest report.
“Chengyan said that the male must have gotten impatient because he then began to shoot him ‘so many times’ and then ran out the back door to the business,” the report said.
Gaston-Anderson was arrested at Desert Parkway Mental Health Facility about a week after the shooting, police said.
In November, Gaston-Anderson was charged with burglary of a business and two counts of grand larceny, court records show. He was charged the following month with pandering and carrying a concealed weapon without a permit, and he was charged in January with burglary of a business and a misdemeanor count of petit larceny in a third separate case.
He remained in the Clark County Detention Center on Friday without bail, according to jail records. He is due to appear in court again in the attempted murder case on Aug. 22.
Contact Katelyn Newberg at knewberg@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0240. Follow @k_newberg on Twitter.
