Suspect in deadly Las Vegas dominoes game ran out ammo
A fourth person might have been shot in a deadly June triple shooting had the shooter not run out of ammo, police documents show.
Detectives said the shooter, whom Las Vegas police identified as 57-year-old Frederick D. Martin Jr., killed two men and shot a third over a game of dominoes on June 25 in the northeast valley. According to a warrant for his arrest, Martin pointed the gun at the fourth man and “pulled the trigger but the firearm was out of ammunition and only clicked.”
The warrant said Martin got angry because he thought somebody watching him play dominoes at 4460 Wendy Lane, near Craig and Walnut roads, was making fun of him. Martin then went to his car and stood by it. He forgot his keys and returned to the garage.
There, Martin argued with one of the men before grabbing a gun from his waistband and shooting him multiple times, the Metropolitan Police Department wrote in the warrant. Police said Martin then shot another man as he tried to escape. They both died at the scene. The Clark County coroner’s office identified them as 20-year-old Calvin Clark and 37-year-old Demond Billingsley.
The third man shot was grazed in the head and shot twice in the right leg. He was the first person police spoke with, and he told officers to help the others inside. The warrant said he ran down the street and knocked on doors to try to get help. He was hospitalized at University Medical Center with survivable injuries.
After Martin tried to shoot the fourth man, Metro wrote in the warrant, Martin walked to his car. The man ran into the house with Martin’s car keys and locked the door. Martin returned, banged on the door and demanded his keys. The man told him he had called police and they were coming, Metro said.
The warrant said Martin fled, and then the man found a phone to call 911.
Detectives identified Martin as a suspect through interviews with the two surviving men and a records check of the car.
Martin was arrested in Victorville, California, two days after the shooting. He was booked July 13 into Clark County Detention Center, where he is being held on five counts, including two of murder with a deadly weapon.
Contact Mike Shoro at mshoro@reviewjournal.com. Follow @mike_shoro on Twitter.
