LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — A man faces several attempted murder charges after police said he shot at two people in a vehicle more than 20 times in retaliation for a fight at a Fourth of July party, documents said.
On July 5 at around 12:30 a.m., officers with the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department were called to the area of Rainbow Boulevard and Lone Mountain Road after reports of a shooting.
A woman and her son were driving near the area when a suspect shot at their vehicle more than 20 times, according to an arrest report.
Through investigation, detectives learned that a man named Darius Higuera, 24, went to a Fourth of July party with his girlfriend the night before the shooting. Higuera knew the victims and the shooting was not random, police said.
According to witnesses, Higuera had “an issue” with members of the family and his girlfriend’s mom asked him to leave the party. Higuera refused to leave and a fight between Higuera and another family member broke out.
During the fight, the family member picked up a rock and hit Higuera in the head with it, the report stated. Higuera showed his girlfriend a handgun that he kept in his car and she convinced him to leave.
After he left, Higuera texted his girlfriend about the fight, texting “I should have killed them,” the report stated.
Higuera then came back to the house and took his girlfriend’s brother’s backpack from his car, which the brother saw, according to the report. Surveillance video shows Higuera shooting twice at a family member who chased after him.
The girlfriend’s brother and mom got into their car to chase after him and were near Rainbow Boulevard and Lone Mountain Road when Higuera got out of his car and shot at their vehicle 25 times, the report stated.
Higuera’s girlfriend recorded a phone call with him where he said he shot at her brother. “He was following me in traffic, I just shot at his dumb [expletive],” he said, according to the report.
In the recording, Higuera also told his girlfriend if anyone wanted to “call the police, they can, but they won’t find anything because I’m too smart.”
Police took Higuera into custody on July 30. Higuera told police that he got into a fight at a Fourth of July party where he was hit in the head with a rock, but would not say anything more before he requested a lawyer.
Higuera is being held without bail at the Clark County Detention Center where he faces three counts of attempted murder and 27 counts of discharging a gun at or into an occupied structure or vehicle.
His next court appearance is scheduled for Monday, Aug 5.
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