Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

Man who killed himself at M Resort believed Henderson casino wronged him

Aerial Photos: May 21, 2012

Steve Marcus

A view of the M Resort in Henderson taken from a helicopter May 21, 2012.

Updated Thursday, April 9, 2015 | 1:32 p.m.

A man who fatally shot himself at the M Resort on Easter Sunday revealed in a letter last year that he became suicidal after losing his lifetime buffet pass at the casino, the death of his mother and the loss of a friend.

The Clark County Coroner's Office identified the man as 53-year-old John Noble of Las Vegas. He died of a gunshot wound to the mouth, officials said.

In an email letter to the Las Vegas Sun in November, Noble outlined his frustrations with the M Resort in Henderson and its employees.

The Las Vegas Review-Journal also reported that it today received more than 270 pages of notes and documents from Noble, including a suicide note in which he says, “Today, I end my life due to the M Resort Spa Casino and its employees.”

In his letter to the Sun, Noble said he believed he was a victim of “injustice, discrimination, defamation of character, slander, sexual harassment, and emotional trauma.”

He begins the letter saying that he was granted a lifetime buffet pass as part of the M Resort’s Biggest Winner Contest in September 2010.

But in March 2013, employees filed complaints about him, saying he was a stalker, a “known drinker” and made them feel threatened, he said. He noted that he had a friendship with a hostess, gave flowers to a manager and left notes for the women.

That same month, he was asked to leave the property, and casino security read him a trespass notice, warning he would be arrested if he returned, he said.

Noble posted on his Facebook page on Easter — March 31, 2013 — that he attempted to commit suicide. He listed the same reasons for his latest suicide attempt, saying he was depressed after losing his buffet pass and blaming "the people whom claimed to be friends and the two women in my life that meant so much to me." He says he left a farewell message on an M Resort employee's phone, who apparently got the message and called the police.

Noble's Facebook page contains photos he took of two women who work for M Resort and images he took from their Facebook pages. In a post at 2:25 p.m. Sunday — less than three hours before the suicide — Noble says he had been trying to find an attorney to represent him against "the lies and slander the M Resort has falsely made about me." He ends the post by saying he will get off Facebook and lists the names of the female workers, their home addresses and photos of them, stating they all "lied and slandered" him.

About 5 p.m. Sunday, Noble was near the buffet when he shot himself, Henderson Police said.

Police were initially called to the casino because of a car fire in the parking garage. As the fire was being extinguished, there were reports of shots fired in the buffet area, police said. Evidence at the scene indicates the car fire was linked to the shooting, police said.

Marina Rizk, a 21-year-old college student from Los Angeles, said in a telephone interview she was with three people that evening and had waited an hour to get into the buffet. They had just finished eating and were outside of the restaurant when people shouted about a man with a gun in the line.

"There were people in Easter dresses," she said.

Rizk described a chaotic scene. As she ran out of the casino, she said she warned others before going to hide in the bushes outside.

"I remember this one little boy. I remember telling the family, 'Get the baby. Run. There's a guy with a gun," she said.

No one else was shot but two people suffered minor injuries. One person was taken to the hospital after a fall and another was checked out at the scene.

The incident remains under investigation.

Richard Egan, the suicide prevention training and outreach facilitator for the Office of Suicide Prevention in Southern Nevada, urges anyone who is struggling with a crisis to call (800) 273-TALK immediately

“Most people are reaching out,” Egan said. “So when they reach out, the biggest thing is to grab a hold of them and help them through what they are reaching out about.”

The Nevada Coalition for Suicide Prevention will be having a prevention walk in September, featuring a musical performance by singer Meagan White, who lost her father to suicide. Information on how to volunteer, donate or to register for the Las Vegas event is available at NVSuicidePrevention.org.

The Associated Press and Sun reporter Eva Chidester contributed to this report.

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