Clerk fired gun before dying

A liquor store clerk killed during a robbery Friday night managed to shoot one of his assailants before he was gunned down, police said Monday.

"There was an exchange of gunfire," said Sgt. Rocky Alby, with Las Vegas police's homicide section.

The Clark County coroner's office has identified the clerk as 62-year-old Arthur Miller of Las Vegas.

He died from multiple gunshot wounds to the chest.

About four hours after the shooting, homicide detectives arrested two suspects, Antonio Duenas and Michael Cruz, both 24. The men were apprehended at MountainView Hospital, where Duenas was being treated for a gunshot wound to the abdomen.

No update on his condition was available Monday.

Alby said Miller had been working at the liquor store for only a few weeks. He was the only clerk on duty at the store, near Tropicana Avenue and Mountain Vista Street, when he was shot.

Alby said Miller did not know the suspects.

"This was a random robbery," he said.

According to a Las Vegas police report, Duenas and Cruz "talked about not having any money, and decided to go out and rob someone."

At first they considered sticking up someone on the street but decided against it because they were afraid they might pick someone who was just as broke as they were, the report said.

As they drove around, they spotted Loco Liquor at 4915 Pearlite Ave. and decided to rob it, the report said.

At the hospital, police said, Duenas told them that he walked into the store with a pistol in his hand and told the clerk to hand over the money.

Duenas said that's when Miller pulled out his own gun and started shooting, the report said.

Police were called to the store just before 11:30 p.m. Friday by a woman who reported that the windows were broken and a man was lying behind the counter.

When officers arrived, they found Miller dead on the floor next to his handgun and a bundle of $10 bills.

Four hours later, officers found Duenas' car in the hospital parking lot with a pistol inside that was visible through the passenger window, the police report said.

Cruz was booked into the Clark County Detention Center on charges including murder with a deadly weapon, burglary, attempted robbery and conspiracy.

While still hospitalized, Duenas was booked in absentia on the same charges.

Contact reporter Henry Brean at hbrean@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0350.