Metro Police Assistant Sheriff Chris Jones stands by a photo of Metro Police officer Shay K. Mikalonis, 29, a four-year veteran of the department, during a media briefing at police headquarters Tuesday, June 2, 2020. Mikalonis was shot by Circus Circus Monday, June 1, 2020, during a George Floyd protest.
Monday, Aug. 31, 2020 | 11 a.m.
Edgar Samaniego waits to make an initial appearance at the Regional Justice Center Wednesday, June 3, 2020. Samaniego is accused of shooting and critically injuring Metro Police Officer Shay Mikalonis, 29, near Circus Circus Monday night.
A judge on Monday postponed arraignment for a 20-year-old man facing trial in Nevada state court on charges that could get him decades in prison in the shooting of a Las Vegas police officer during a protest on the Las Vegas Strip.
Edgar Samaniego’s attorney sought the delay after a local judge decided Friday there was enough evidence for Samaniego to face eight attempted murder, battery, assault with a weapon and firearms counts in the shooting that critically wounded Officer Shay Mikalonis.
Samaniego is due to return to court Sept. 17, prosecutor Giancarlo Pesci said.
Samaniego’s defense attorney, John Turco, did not immediately respond outside court to messages.
Samaniego was arrested hours after the shooting and remains jailed on $1 million bail. He did not testify during the preliminary hearing of evidence in the case.
Witnesses said Samaniego fired a handgun from a motel parking lot toward the demonstration that was one of hundreds nationally calling for racial justice following the May 25 death of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
Mikalonis was a police officer for four years. He was wounded in the head, and his family has said he was paralyzed from the neck down. He was transferred to an out-of-state spinal injury rehabilitation center.
