Las Vegas man accused of attempted murder in neighbor’s stabbing

A 24-year-old man was arrested in June on suspicion of stabbing his neighbor 14 times, leaving that person in critical condition, according to an arrest report.

Robert Burns was arrested June 8, about two weeks after police say is suspected of stabbing his neighbor outside their apartment complex on May 21. Metropolitan Police Department officers were called about 11:20 p.m. to a central valley apartment complex, near Wyoming Avenue and Industrial Road, after report of a stabbing, according to Burns’ arrest report and police dispatch records.

When officers arrived they found a man suffering from multiple stab wounds, and he was taken to University Medical Center in critical condition, the report said. A witness told police that Burns, who was the victim’s neighbor, had stabbed the man during an argument.

Police were unable to find Burns at the apartment complex that night, the report said. Another witness said he saw the fistfight while riding his bicycle in the area.

The witness said the victim “slammed” the man who matched Burns’ description to the ground. The man who looked like Burns then punched the other man, rolled him over and began stabbing him, the witness told police.

The witness said he helped pull the man with the knife off of the other man, and then the man with the knife ran away, the report said.

Officers were called to Burns’ apartment for a domestic violence report earlier that night, about 10:10 p.m., the report said. When officers were investigating that report, Burns had a steak knife with a 4- to 5-inch blade on him, which he said he carried for protection.

An officer returned that knife to Burns “after the call was finished,” the report said.

Hospital staff told detectives the victim was stabbed 14 times, with two stab wounds to his heart. On May 27, the man told police at the hospital he was stabbed with a small knife twice in the heart, two to three times in his side, three times in his back, once in his hand, once in his face, as well as in “several other areas,” the report said.

The man told police Burns had been “antagonizing” him for about three months. On May 21 the two got into an argument after the man made “a disparaging remark about Burns,” the report said.

The argument escalated until the man told Burns “if he wanted to fight, they should take it outside.” Once they got outside, the man said, Burns “grabbed” him and began punching and stabbing him, according to the report.

During an interview with police on June 7 after his arrest, Burns initially denied having arguments with his neighbors. Burns then said the other man started the fight on May 21 by punching Burns multiple times.

Burns said the other man had a knife, and Burns picked it up when it was dropped. Burns then claimed he stabbed the other man twice with the man’s knife, and once with the knife he had in his own pocket, the report said.

Burns was charged with attempted murder with a deadly weapon and remained in the Clark County Detention Center on Friday with a $10,000 bail, court records show. A preliminary hearing in the case is scheduled for July 9.

Contact Katelyn Newberg at knewberg@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0240. Follow @k_newberg on Twitter.