Accused NYC attacker was unstable, violent in Las Vegas, records show

Weng Sor showed signs of bizarre and apparently mentally ill behavior in Las Vegas in the years before he was accused of using a U-Haul truck to kill one person and injure eight in a rampage earlier this week in New York City.

Sor, 62, faces charges of murder and attempted murder in connection with attack, which played out Monday in Brooklyn and saw the U-Haul plowing into bicyclists, moped riders and at least one pedestrian, The Associated Press reported. His son, Stephen Sor, told the AP that his father had been living in Las Vegas until recently.

Clark County court records show Sor has multiple arrests and convictions for several violent acts over the years. On Wednesday, the Metropolitan Police Department released arrest reports and booking photos from Weng’s run-ins with Metro police.

Sor stabbed his brother with a pocketknife at their mother’s Las Vegas house during an argument in 2015 and served about 17 months in a Nevada prison, according to court and prison records. In that case, Sor’s mother told police he has “unknown type mental health issues for which he takes medication,” an arrest report stated.

2020 stabbing

More details emerged with the Wednesday release of the arrest report from a November 2020 stabbing at a home in the 5700 block of Pioneer Avenue, near South Lindell Road and West Desert Inn Road, in the Spring Valley area of Las Vegas.

Sor, who lived at that address, appears to have been one of about 10 roommates living in the house including the victim.

According to the police report, Sor stabbed a man after Sor called Metro police dispatchers three times in just under two hours with objectively nonsensical claims. At one point he said he was in an argument with his neighbors, who have guns.

“Call takers asked him if he has seen any weapons tonight, and he told them the guns are lying everywhere, but he has not seen any,” the report stated.

The report also outlined the following:

Sor also said he felt a neighbor’s dog would attack him. Asked by a dispatcher if the dog was still outside, Sor said he would get his knife and check, then refused to answer questions and would talk about politics.

By the third time he called police that day, a dispatcher explained why an officer was delayed in responding. Sor instead spoke about the American flag and cursed at the call takers before “rambling” before the conversation ended.

Just under two hours later, somebody else called Metro police to report that a 53-year-old man had been stabbed in the stomach at the same address.

When police arrived at the home they found a large pool of blood and Sor holding two knives: a 3-inch pocket knife and a large meat cleaver.

A witness who said he lived in the home with the victim told police he was outside smoking with the victim when Sor was walking up and down the driveway talking to himself about communism. Sor walked up to the victim. An argument broke out and it turned physical with both pushing each other. When they separated, the victim saw he was bleeding from the front of his shoulder.

At University Medical Center, police spoke with the victims “as he was going in and out of consciousness” but were able to get some information. The man had been stabbed in the stomach and left arm. A doctor described the wounds as “severe,” according to the report.

According to the victim, Sor walked up to him, pushed him, and then the victim felt a sharp pain. The victim looked down and realized he was bleeding, the report said.

‘You stabbed me!’

In an interview with police, Sor said he saw that the neighbors dogs were out and because he felt as if they were going to attack him, he went to get his knives for protection. Sor spoke about the dogs running around and his political views, the report noted. Sor said that he believed the victim was a Chinese communist and that he thought the victim would attack him, so he “pulled out his pocketknife and stabbed him multiple times,” the report stated.

“You stabbed me!” the victim apparently screamed, according to Sor.

Sor was later convicted of a misdemeanor charge of conspiracy to commit battery in connection with the attack.

He was sentenced to 364 days in county jail, with about 10 months of time already served, but before pleading guilty in that case, the AP reported, he underwent several months of evaluations at state psychiatric facilities until he was found competent to face charges, court records show.

Contact Brett Clarkson at bclarkson@reviewjournal.com. Follow @BrettClarkson_ on Twitter.