Judge orders mental evaluation for 93-year-old Las Vegas suspect

A 93-year-old man seen on video shooting a maintenance employee at an apartment complex in the west valley before Las Vegas police fired at him must undergo a psychological evaluation, a judge decided Wednesday.

Robert Thomas remained in custody and was being treated Wednesday at the University Medical Center when Las Vegas Justice of the Peace Amy Chelini ordered him to undergo a competency evaluation.

That meant that a pair of psychologists would question Thomas to determine whether he understood first-degree kidnapping, attempted murder, burglary and other charges against him.

An employee in the office of the Vista del Valle apartments on West Viking Road called police on the morning of Jan. 2 to report “an irate resident” just before the shooting, police said.

Authorities said surveillance video showed Thomas, wearing a black coat and a black hat, walking into the complex’s leasing office before pulling out a black 9 mm handgun.

A woman sitting at a desk near the door stood up and called 911 after Thomas shot a computer on the other side of the room, authorities said.

Thomas let the woman leave the office, but while she was on the phone with a 911 dispatcher, Thomas shot the maintenance worker in the right leg, the footage showed. Police said at the time that Thomas had been upset about flooding and water damage inside his apartment.

Officer Ronald Hornyak, 45, and his partner arrived just as Thomas shot the worker again, this time in the left leg, police said.

Hornyak fired one round from his handgun through the glass door. The round pierced the lapel of Thomas’ jacket but did not strike him, police said.

The maintenance worker was brought to University Medical Center Trauma unit with multiple gunshot wounds that were not considered life-threatening, police said.

Contact David Ferrara at dferrara@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-1039. Follow @randompoker on Twitter.