Police say shooting rampage suspect claimed he wanted officers to kill him

Jen Lawson

Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2003 | 11:09 a.m.

The man who went on a shooting rampage Tuesday morning at a downtown apartment building told officers he wanted them to kill him, police said.

Ricky Horne, 31, was high on the drug Ecstasy and had been drinking when he began shooting from the roof of the South Cove Apartments at 15th and Fremont streets, Metro Officer Jose Montoya said.

"He wanted to kill himself," Montoya said. "When he surrendered, he was challenging officers to kill him."

At that point, Horne had fatally shot a 42-year-old man and critically wounded a 32-year-old Las Vegas man.

But Horne did not have a gun in his hand when he surrendered after a four-hour standoff, Montoya said. SWAT officers tackled him and took him into custody.

Metro spokesman Lt. Vincent Cannito said he couldn't comment as to why police didn't shoot back at the man, but said the decision "is based on the totality of the circumstances."

Metro officers shot 24 people last year, and seven of the people who were shot died, according to department statistics.

Tuesday morning, it was Metro officers who were being shot at.

Police arrived at the South Cove Apartments at about 3 a.m. without their lights and sirens on, but the Horne saw the police cars and opened fire on them from the roof of the building, Montoya said.

Five shots hit one of the police cars and broke the driver's side window, but the officer in the car was not wounded, Sgt. Kevin Manning said.

A Metro police officer suffered a hand injury from a ricochet of a bullet fragment or flying debris during the shooting. He was treated at the scene.

The officers who were shot at heard a man yell that he had been hit.

"The element of surprise is the best way to handle these situations," Montoya said. "Officers saw the shadow on the roof and realized he had a high-powered rifle. Their main concern was to rescue this individual" who had been shot.

Police pulled into their cruiser a 31-year-old man with a chest wound. He was taken to University Medical Center and was in serious condition this morning.

A 42-year-old man subsequently was found dead in a parking lot behind the complex. That man apparently had been shot in the head either before police arrived or as they were arriving, Montoya said. The Clark County Coroner's Office had not released the identity of the victim as of this morning.

Police initially were worried that there might be at least one more victim because in telephone negotiations during the standoff Horne told them he had a woman duct-taped in his apartment bathroom, but after he surrendered police found the apartment to be empty.

Horne allegedly told police he was upset because he couldn't find a job since moving to Las Vegas from Pittsburgh three months ago.

Horne also said he left Pittsburgh because he had outstanding warrants, Montoya said. But a Pittsburgh Police Department spokeswoman said Tuesday that Horne was not wanted for any crimes in that city.

Manning said Horne doesn't have an arrest record in Las Vegas.

Horne remained jailed without bail at the Clark County Detention Center this morning on charges of murder, attempted murder and attempted murder on a police officer.