A Metro Police officer blocks traffic after a homicide in a residential neighborhood near Flamingo Road and Eastern Avenue Saturday, April 4, 2020.
Published Saturday, April 4, 2020 | 5:50 p.m.
Updated Sunday, April 5, 2020 | 8:29 a.m.
A family cookout turned tragic Saturday afternoon in central Las Vegas when a man shot his parents, killing his father and leaving his mother with life-threatening injuries, according to Metro Police.
The surviving victim, a woman in her late 50s, was taken to Sunrise Hospital and Medical Center where she was listed in “extremely critical condition,” police said Saturday night.
Her 30-year-old son, Alfonso Fernandez, was being held at the Clark County Detention Center on counts of murder and attempted murder, jail logs show.
The incident occurred in the two-story house in the 4300 block of Garland Court, in a neighborhood tucked between Eastern Avenue and Flamingo Road, Lt. Ray Spencer said.
Police said at least five people were at the cookout, including a toddler, when an argument broke out between the suspect and family members. The suspect resided at the home with his parents.
The elder Fernandez, a man in his 70s, intervened and took his son to the garage to “calm him down,” Spencer said. “At that point the son shot the father,” Spencer said.
Police later said the gunman walked into the living room and shot his mother.
The panicked cookout attendees ran upstairs and called 911, Spencer said. Officers formulated a plan and quickly made entry into the house, where they arrested the suspect and provided the woman with first aid, he added.
When valley residents are ordered to stay home due to the coronavirus pandemic, Spencer advised frustrated Las Vegans to go for a walk, which is still allowed, to blow off steam. If there’s domestic violence at the home, he said there are many community resources available to prevent an act of violence like Saturday afternoon’s.
