A Nevada man is accused of shooting at his ex-girlfriend and her new boyfriend when they came to his home to drop off a key and pick up her two puppies, Las Vegas Metro police said.
John Harris faces charges of attempted murder, battery, assault and discharging a gun into a vehicle, records showed.
On May 23, police responded to an area near Maryland Parkway and Ogden Avenue after receiving several 911 calls reporting about a dozen gunshots, they said. Officers said one of the callers reported hearing two men arguing. One of the men then drove off in an orange Dodge Challenger and crashed into a pole, police said.
The driver of the orange car ran off, but his passenger, a woman whose name is redacted in the report, stayed and was taken into custody, police said.
Officers followed a blood trail from the Challenger to a residence on Ogden Avenue. A person at the residence told police a shooting victim had come to his apartment and had asked for help after being shot in the head.
Police said their investigation led them to an apartment on Maryland Parkway. When police responded to the apartment, Harris opened the door with a broom in his hand and appeared to be “sweeping the floor of the apartment,” police said.
Harris told police that his ex-girlfriend and another man “arrived at his residence and ‘shot up’ his apartment. Harris reportedly told [an officer] he ‘had to defend himself,’” police wrote in his arrest report.
In an interview with police, Harris’ ex-girlfriend said she and Harris have a shared child and have been fighting over the past several weeks. On May 13, the girlfriend received two puppies and had kept them at Harris’ home, police said.
On May 22, the girlfriend said she “wanted to end the relationship,” return the key to his apartment and retrieve the puppies, police said.
“She called her new boyfriend… [and] explained to [him] about her and Harris’ relationship and how he gets angry and physical sometimes,” police said.
The girlfriend said she went to Harris’ apartment the next day on May 23. Harris opened the door and pointed a gun at her face, police said. When he saw the Challenger below, “he pointed the gun at the car and began firing rounds, striking the [car] several times,” police said.
The driver of the car, the ex-girlfriend’s new boyfriend, then got out of the Challenger and fired two rounds back at Harris but did not hit him, police said. Harris is then accused of firing more rounds at the car as the shooting victim and his girlfriend drove off, police said.
The driver, Harris’ girlfriend’s new boyfriend, was shot in the head. The bullet traveled around his skull and went from the back of his head through the front police said.
The shooting victim then lost control of the car, hitting a pole. Harris then reportedly ran up to the crash site, asking his girlfriend, “Did I get him?”
Police found nine bullet holes in the Challenger, they said. They also found a 223-caliber rifle in the car with no serial number.
Police said they found a handgun and a shotgun in Harris’ apartment.
Judge Elena Graham set Harris’ bail at $25,000. Graham ordered Harris to stay away from the victim. Harris has posted bail as of Monday and due in court on June 15.
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