Man Who Has Been in Prison Twice Is Accused of Shooting 5 People at a Party in Las Vegas

LAS VEGAS- The man who is accused of shooting five people over the weekend at a house party in northeast Las Vegas has been convicted of a crime twice before.

Alberto Santacruz, 36, was taken into custody soon after the shooting in the early hours of Sunday morning. He gave police a fake ID card, so they couldn’t confirm his identity. Santacruz is not a U.S. citizen.

The arrest report says that he had been convicted of conspiring to kidnap someone in 2007 and having a controlled substance in 2015.

After getting into a fight with another man in the backyard of the home on Holt Avenue near East Lake Mead Boulevard and North Nellis Boulevard, he is now facing several charges in connection with a shooting that happened at a 50th birthday party.

According to the arrest report, Santacruz pulled out a gun and shot the man in the leg. He then ran out of the yard as people started chasing him. Police said that surveillance video showed that when he got to the gate to the backyard, he turned around and started shooting at the group, hurting some of them.

The report said that up to 15 people chased Santacruz into the street, where he was tackled to the ground. He kept shooting his gun until someone stepped on his hand holding the gun, which disarmed him.

Santacruz is accused of the following:

Attempted murder (five counts)
Using a deadly weapon to commit an assault (five counts)
firing a gun or weapon where people could be hurt (two counts)
A person who shouldn’t have a gun can’t own or have one.
Getting caught with drugs
Police said that about 100 people, including children, were at the party. Five people were hurt by gunfire and taken to the hospital. Two of them were hurt very badly.

The victims suffered the following gunshot wounds: