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Las Vegas police said the shooting on Sunday night near the
landmark Bellagio fountains was an isolated incident between the
victims and the suspect, who had been feuding on social media
since at least 2023. The suspect, identified by police as Manuel
D. Ruiz, surrendered to authorities Monday morning at a police
station outside of Las Vegas.
Ruiz, 41, faces two counts of open murder with a deadly weapon
and is being held without bail, jail records show.
The Associated Press sent an emailed message Thursday seeking
comment from his public defender. Ruiz told police after his
arrest that he was acting in self-defense, according to his
arrest report.
The suspect is seen in the video livestream pulling a gun from
his waistband, raising it and initially firing between five and
six shots, according to a description of the video detailed in
the report. One or two more gunshots can be heard in the video
after Tanisha Finley is seen grabbing the cellphone that is
being used for the livestream.
The phone fell to the ground and remained still for a moment
until a police officer appeared in the camera frame and turned
off the livestream, the report said.
The couple's son was among the 911 callers to report the
shooting, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported.
I heard gunshots around him," he says. "I think he might have
got shot, so I was just trying to check and make sure, just try
to see if he's OK or where he's at.
In his interview with police after he surrendered, the suspect
said he also has a YouTube channel and had been livestreaming
from the Strip on the night of the shooting. Ruiz told police
began shooting because it looked like one of the victims was
reaching for a weapon, according to the report.
Police said no firearms were found on the victims.
The shooting happened on one of the busiest stretches of the
Strip. The dancing Bellagio fountains, which soar up to 460 feet
(140 meters) into the air, play every 15 minutes on the weekends
between 8 p.m. and midnight.
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