Police say teen livestreamed attempted shooting of Las Vegas officer
A Las Vegas teenager was indicted Friday on charges arising from an incident more than four months ago in which he allegedly fired several rounds from a high-powered rifle at a Metropolitan Police Department officer while streaming the attack on Facebook Live.
Arnulfo Robles, 17, faces one count each of attempted murder and assault on a protected person with use of a deadly weapon and 10 counts of discharging a firearm at or into an occupied vehicle in the previously unreported case.
Chief Deputy District Attorney John Giordani said Robles fired seven rounds from an SKS semi-automatic rifle at a Metro officer early Feb. 3, striking the officer’s police vehicle at 5885 Crown Palms Ave., near Jones Boulevard and Blue Diamond Road.
The prosecutor identified the officer as Sgt. Sean Miller. He was not injured, but bullets flew so close to him that he could feel the force of their passage, according to Giordani.
Video of the shooting was not immediately available Friday, and the prosecutor did not know whether anyone had viewed Robles’ livestream on Facebook. Robles’ attorney, Donald Green, declined to comment on the case.
A Facebook spokeswoman could not confirm details of the incident Friday but said in an email, “We routinely respond to valid law enforcement requests.”
After the shooting, Robles allegedly led police on a high-speed chase before crashing his vehicle into a parked car near Durango Drive and Warm Springs Road. He has been in custody since his arrest.
District Judge Elizabeth Gonzalez ordered Robles held on $500,000 bail. He is due in court next week.
Metro did not disclose the attack on the officer at the time. The department did not immediately explain the official silence after Robles’ indictment became public Friday.
Neighbors on Crown Palms Avenue interviewed Friday by the Las Vegas Review-Journal said they did not recall hearing any gunshots or other loud commotion in February.
A Clark County School District spokeswoman could not confirm whether Robles was enrolled at any district school.
The trend of criminals streaming themselves committing crimes has been on the increase in recent years, including a notorious January 2017 case in which four attackers used Facebook to distribute their attack on a mentally disabled youth in Chicago. But a Google search by the Review-Journal uncovered no mention of other attacks on police officers being shown on social media as they happened.
Contact David Ferrara at dferrara@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-1039. Follow @randompoker on Twitter. Review-Journal staff writers Rio Lacanlale, Katelyn Newberg and Amanda Pak-Harvey contributed to this report.
