Las Vegas Sun

March 18, 2024

Man arrested in wife’s death claimed shooting was accidental

A man who told detectives his estranged wife was wounded in an accidental shooting during a struggle over a gun in her southwest valley house Thursday morning was arrested on a murder count, according to Metro Police.

John Fitzgerald Gonzalez, 53, who said he was picking up the couple’s 6-year-old son to take him to school, said the woman had pulled out a gun and was fatally wounded when it went off in the garage, which had its door shut, Lt. Dan McGrath said Thursday afternoon.

Upon further probing, which included inconsistencies in Gonzalez’s statements to investigators, detectives do not believe the shooting was an accident, McGrath said.

Gonzalez called 911 at 7:52 a.m. to a house in the 9000 block of College Green Street, near Durango Drive and Blue Diamond Road, McGrath said. Officers arrived to find a 40-year-old woman with a wound in her upper left side.

She died shortly after arriving at St. Rose Dominican Hospital – Siena Campus, McGrath said. Their son, who was upstairs getting ready for school, was not harmed and did not witness the shooting.

Metro had responded to calls for service at the residence, including one which was domestic-disturbance related, McGrath said.

Court records show that the victim filed for divorce in late September and the couple had a temporary custody, visitation and child support hearing on Oct. 25. The matter was heard and resolved, according to records.

Gonzalez is being held without bail at the Clark County Detention Center on one count of murder, jail logs show.

Further details were not immediately available.