Judge raises mental health concern about man held in New Year’s Eve weekend gunfire near Vegas Strip
LAS VEGAS (AP) — A California man accused of firing dozens of gunshots from upper floors of a condominium-hotel near the Las Vegas Strip the morning before New Year’s Eve had his bail set at $500,000 on Wednesday.
Jon Roger Letzkus appears to be mentally unstable and “what he is alleged to have done in our community is incredibly dangerous,” Las Vegas Justice of the Peace Melissa Saragosa said, citing reports to the court following his arrest.
Standing before the judge in shackles, Letzkus, 45, told Saragosa that he “more or less” understood the more than 70 felony charges against him.
Police said no one was found injured by gunfire but nearby buildings were damaged a little before 6 a.m. Sunday at Signature Towers — a three-building complex that is part of the MGM Grand resort east of Las Vegas Boulevard. Police said Letzkus was found and arrested almost five hours later.
Prosecutor Erika Mendoza told the judge on Wednesday that Letzkus admitted firing shots and that the unit he stayed in was severely damaged by “indiscriminate” gunfire and flooding. Mendoza said MGM Resorts estimated damage at more than $100,000.
The judge rejected a bid by Letzkus’ court-appointed lawyer, Dallas Anselmo, to set a minimal bail of $5,000 with electronic location monitoring. Anselmo declined to comment later outside the courtroom.
Records show Letzkus owns property in San Diego and Oregon, and gambling news websites show he has competed in online poker tournaments since at least 2013.
Saragosa cited reports to the court that Letzkus was estranged from his wife and the subject of a court restraining order in California, and that he told officials he was fearful of his parents, said his spouse was “out to get him,” and had hallucinations and delusions.
Saragosa said she was left with “a picture of someone who is mentally unstable, unpredictable.”
Letzkus will have to declare his money source if he posts bail, the judge said, and will have to stay in the Las Vegas area on high-level electronic monitoring ahead of a preliminary hearing Jan. 17.
Police said it appeared that shots were fired from a balcony about halfway up one of the three 38-story Signature Towers buildings, and that the first officers to arrive on Sunday heard gunfire.
Mendoza said Wednesday that people in nearby buildings pinpointed the balcony where shots were fired.
Inside, police did not immediately find Letzkus, but reported recovering a handgun and ammunition.
The incident raised concerns about crowd security ahead of New Year’s Eve events including fireworks that officials said were expected to draw well more than 300,000 people to the Strip and downtown Las Vegas.
Police quickly said Sunday that it appeared Letzkus acted alone and that the incident was not terrorism.
All but two of the 73 charges against Letzkus allege illegal discharge of a firearm. The others accuse him of destroying property and illegally possessing a gun.
Sunday’s gunfire happened within walking distance of a site on the Strip where a gunman in a high-rise hotel rained bullets into an outdoor concert crowd in October 2017, killing 60 people and wounding hundreds in the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history. That shooter killed himself before police reached him.
Signature Towers is also near the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, where last month an unemployed professor shot and killed three professors and critically wounded a fourth in a business school building before being shot and killed by police near the campus student union.