Explosives found in Vegas after shooting by bail bondsmen

Bail bondsmen shot a man they were trying to capture and the Las Vegas Fire Department removed homemade explosives from an east valley home where the shooting happened Saturday, Las Vegas police said.

First responders were called to the Miracle Mile Mobile Home Park near the intersection of Boulder Highway and Mulberry Drive at 10:57 a.m., Metro Lt. Jeff Goodwin said.

Two bail bondsmen were chasing the man they had a warrant for and a “reason to apprehend,” Goodwin said. The chase led them into the home and a struggle ensued. At least one of the bondsmen fired his gun, wounding the man.

The man was taken to Sunrise Hospital and Medical Center with minor injuries, Goodwin said. Police would not release details on why the bondsmen were chasing the man or why they had a warrant for him.

When Metro’s Violent Crimes unit was on the scene investigating the shooting, they found several “homemade explosives,” Metro Lt. Ken Romane said. Metro’s ARMOR section, a special unit used for hazardous materials, and the Fire Department’s bomb squad were then called to the home, where they found “homemade devices” and a “small amount” of marijuana.

It wasn’t immediately clear who the home belonged to.

Daniel Martinez, 26, told the Review-Journal he stays at the home where the shooting occurred and that the man being chased broke in through the back door.

Martinez said neither he nor another man who lives at the home knew the man who was shot. Police suggested the man picked the home arbitrarily.

Martinez said he owns fireworks and dynamite that are stored at the home. Metro confirmed them as items used in the confiscated homemade explosives.

Roughly two dozen neighboring homes in the mobile home community were evacuated by police, Romane said.

But Martinez’ evacuated neighbors told the Review-Journal that they were left in the dark about what was going on.

“All of a sudden there were police cars surrounding our street and asking us to leave,” neighbor Jose Garcia said in Spanish. “They didn’t say why.”

“It’s the first time something like this has happened here,” added Laura Mendez, who lives across the street from the home where the shooting and explosives investigation occurred. “Just surprising and confusing.”

No arrests were announced on Saturday night and authorities remained at the scene until about 5:15 p.m.

Review-Journal writer Ricardo Torres contributed to this report. Contact Chris Kudialis at ckudialis@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0283. Find him on Twitter: @kudialisrj