Police: Gunman, 93, mad about apartment damage wounds worker
Posted: January 8, 2020 - 4:08am

This undated Clark County Detention Center booking photo shows Robert Thomas, 93, of Las Vegas, following his arrest Jan. 2, 2020, on attempted murder, kidnapping and weapon charges in the wounding of a maintenance manager at an apartment office. The 67-year-old victim survived. Police said an officer fired a gunshot through a glass office door toward Thomas during the arrest, and Thomas received a cut on the head while being handcuffed. (Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department via AP)

LAS VEGAS (AP) — A 93-year-old gunman upset about water damage in his Las Vegas apartment wounded a maintenance manager in an office before being arrested, police said as they released video of the attack.

An officer fired through a glass door Jan. 2 at the gunman as he stood over the wounded maintenance manager, the video shows. The bullet pierced the lapel of Robert Thomas' coat but didn’t hit him, Assistant Clark County Sheriff Brett Zimmerman told reporters Monday.

The maintenance manager was treated for two wounds and has been released from a hospital, police said.

Thomas appeared in court Tuesday, where a judge ordered him held on $25,000 bail pending a Jan. 22 preliminary hearing on attempted murder, kidnapping and weapon charges. Thomas was not asked to enter a plea.

The name of a deputy public defender who will represent him was not immediately available.

A police dispatcher heard gunfire after an office worker called 911, Zimmerman said. Silent office security video showed a man in a black hat and coat calmly firing a shot into the back of a computer monitor and letting the female worker leave before wounding the 67-year-old maintenance manager as he sits in a chair.

A second gunshot can be heard on Officer Ronald Hornyak’s body-worn camera as he approaches the office. The shooter is seen standing over the wounded maintenance manager with a gun before Hornyak fires a shot through the door.

Video from the officer's body camera shows he ordered the attacker to drop the gun as he fired at the glass door, then opened it and told him to drop it again. The gunman puts the gun on a desk, and officers pull him to the ground.

Thomas received a cut on the head as he was arrested, police said.

Hornyak, a 15-year police veteran, was placed on paid leave until police and prosecutors finish reviews of the shooting.