A gunman stormed into a Las Vegas gym on Friday afternoon intending to carry out a mass killing — but his rifle jammed before police shot him dead.
Daniel Ortega, 34, opened fire inside the Las Vegas Athletic Club, a gym he had attended regularly. He killed one man and injured three others before officers arrived and took him down.
The man he murdered was Edgar Quinonez, 31, a longtime employee who had worked at the gym for 15 years.
Assistant Sheriff Jamie Prosser said Ortega approached an employee at the front desk, then paced briefly before speaking to another worker. Without warning, he pulled out a rifle and began shooting.
“The suspect followed the employee deeper into the business and continued to fire rounds,” Prosser said.
In total, Ortega fired 24 rounds. He had more ammunition and extra magazines on him — clearly prepared for a prolonged attack. But then, his rifle malfunctioned.
“Fortunately, this gentleman had a malfunction in his weapon, which actually saved this from being a mass casualty event,” Prosser said.
That mechanical failure gave police precious time.
When officers arrived, Ortega had stopped firing. From outside, they spotted him through a window. One of the officers took the shot.
“When they came up to the window as you can see, they were able to see him through the window and our officer was able to take that shot,” Prosser said.
Three officers fired six rounds. Ortega was killed at the scene.
Police played audio from frantic 911 calls made during the attack. In one, a caller said, “I think I saw someone coming in with an AR… I think there’s shots.”
Investigators say there is no known connection between Ortega and Quinonez.
Ortega had a criminal record, including a 2013 charge for drug trafficking, for which he completed community service. A DUI charge from the same year was later dropped.
If he had survived, Ortega would have faced at least 12 charges, including one count of murder with a deadly weapon and three counts of attempted murder.
