Metro Police officer talk with people on the south side of the Fashion Show Mall after a shooting Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2020.
Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2020 | 3 p.m.
An 18-year-old will plead not guilty and may argue self-defense in a shooting that wounded three people last week at a Las Vegas Strip shopping mall, his defense lawyer said Tuesday.
Christopher Valenzuela-Olivas posted $100,000 bail following a court appearance on Monday. But he remained in custody at the Clark County jail while authorities arranged electronic home monitoring, attorney John Turco said.
Valenzuela-Olivas is due again in court March 30 for a preliminary hearing of evidence on attempted murder charges.
Turco denied his client is a gang member but confirmed police accounts that gunfire followed a dispute Jan. 21 at the Fashion Show mall. Turco said at least one victim punched a person who was with Valenzuela-Olivas.
Police said the wounded males, ages 16, 20 and 78, were treated at a hospital for injuries that were not believed to be life-threatening and released. Their names were not made public.
More than 100 police swarmed the mall in the heart of the casino-resort district, while shoppers ran or sheltered with employees in store back rooms until officials declared an all-clear.
Valenzuela-Olivas was arrested the following day.
The shooting took place a few blocks from where a gunman with assault-style weapons opened fire from a high-rise hotel in October 2017, killing 58 people at an open-air music festival in what became the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history.
