Las Vegas police: Father shoots at group of middle school students in ‘bullying’ incident
LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — A father allegedly fired a gun into a group of middle school students who planned to meet for a fight, according to documents the 8 News Now Investigators obtained.
Octavio Arredondo, 34, faces several charges, including assault with a deadly weapon and child abuse or neglect, documents said.
On Halloween, police responded to an illegal shooting call in a southeast valley neighborhood near Nellis Boulevard and Tropicana Avenue, police said. A neighbor told police “he heard a group of juveniles fighting in the street” before hearing three gunshots, documents said.
The next day, police responded to a middle school to investigate the shooting, they said. Witnesses told police a student’s stepfather allegedly fired a gun at several students. No student was injured.
Police suspect the shooting was over allegations of bullying, they said. A person told police a child and several others were picking on another student and that the groups were involved “in an ongoing feud” with “bullying, fighting and racial slurs,” documents said.
On Halloween, the two groups of students met with the intention of fighting when Arredondo came to pick up his child in the group, police said. A witness told police they saw Arredondo “hang his arm out of the window” and fire a gun toward the group of students, documents said.
Police said video surveillance from the area showed a driver opening his door and then firing a gun toward the students, documents said.
During an interview with police, Arrendondo denied any involvement.
During a search of the car police suspect was involved in the shooting, officers located a firearm stowed in a center console.
It was unclear from court documents if Arredondo was the student’s father or stepfather due to conflicting statements.
During his initial court appearance on Nov. 3, Judge Daniel Westmeyer set Arredondo’s bail at $50,000, records showed. A preliminary hearing was scheduled for Nov. 21.
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