Police arrest two suspects in April homicide
It took more than two hours for police negotiators to coax a homicide suspect barricaded in his North Las Vegas apartment to surrender Friday night, an ordeal that unfolded as SWAT teams kept their automatic weapons trained on the residence.
“We tied up an entire city street, and in the end we got him to walk out on his own accord. No shot was fired, nobody was injured,” said Dennis Flynn, team leader for the Metropolitan Police Department’s Crisis Negotiation Team. “Now that’s what I would call a success.”
Eric Shawn Orduna, 46, was taken into custody wearing a white tank top and blue work pants. He was wanted in connection with the April 10 homicide of Abraham Mathews, 37. Mathews’ body, his wrists and ankles handcuffed, was found near Pecos Road and Owens Avenue. He died of blunt-force trauma to the head, according to the Clark County coroner’s office.
On Thursday, Las Vegas police arrested another suspect, Jonathan Anthony Reyes, after serving him with a warrant. His arrest was uneventful compared to Orduna’s, which resulted in a Friday standoff lasting from 3:15 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.
SWAT officers and FBI agents closed on Orduna’s apartment at 2112 Sun Avenue, near Civic Center Drive and Cheyenne Avenue, after Metro established his whereabouts, said Lt. Clint Nichols with Metro’s Criminal Apprehension Team.
Negotiators first used a bullhorn to talk to Orduna, Flynn said. After that, a woman emerged from the apartment, her hands in the air, telling police that Orduna and another man were still inside the apartment. She gave them Orduna’s cellphone number, Flynn said. Negotiators called and convinced him to come out.
“Seriously, think about it: You’re inside, you don’t want to go to jail, you’re scared, and you’ve got all these machine guns aimed at you,” Flynn said. “We told him that he wouldn’t be harmed and that he would be treated fairly.”
As of late Friday night, Orduna was being interviewed by homicide detectives, Nichols said.
Las Vegas police believe that Reyes and Orduna fatally beat Mathews with bricks from a fireplace and a broomstick. A witness told police that Mathews had bragged about having large sums of money.
Review-Journal writer Rochel Leah Goldblatt contributed to this report.
Contact reporter Tom Ragan at tragan@reviewjournal.com or 702-224-5512.
