Lawyer calls suspect in Caesars shooting ‘protective brother’

A lawyer for a man accused of shooting two people at Caesars Palace said Friday his client was mischaracterized by authorities in accounts of a fistfight sparked by a group of men insulting his sister.

"He's portrayed as this gun-toting animal, not this protective brother and family man that that he really is," lawyer Scott Holper said of Richard Earl Shepherd, 34.

Holper entered a not guilty plea on Shepherd's behalf in Las Vegas Justice Court to charges including attempted murder, battery, assault and weapons possession in the early Aug. 4 shooting.

The lawyer told Justice of the Peace William Jansen he intends to file motions next week seeking bail. Jansen set a preliminary hearing for Sept. 4.

Shepherd, who appeared in handcuffs and blue jail garb, used a piece of paper to shield his face from television cameras in the courtroom. He surrendered Wednesday to face the felony charges, which could result in a sentence of up to life in prison.

Holper told reporters outside court that Shepherd was being held in protective custody at the Clark County jail, "based on the alleged victims and their background," which the lawyer alleged included gang affiliations.

"We didn't want to have any problems," he said.

Police have said they determined the fight and shooting in the lobby of a parking garage elevator at the Las Vegas Strip resort was not gang-related.

Holper said he received 69 pages of court filings and police reports from the Clark County district attorney's office, but said he had not been provided a copy of videotapes that police say clearly show the fistfight and shooting.

Prosecutor Victoria Villegas told the judge the tapes would be turned over within days.

A police affidavit says the videos which have not been made public, show Shepherd getting punched, boarding an elevator with his sister and going to the third floor of the parking structure, retrieving a gun and returning to the scene of the fight.

Shepherd is seen on an elevator videotape taking a handgun from his back pocket, and witnesses said he opened fire with as many as six shots when the elevator doors opened, police said.

Shepherd is accused of trying to kill the 19-year-old who punched him, as well as a 20-year-old who was wounded in the elbow and a 23-year-old who was shot in the knee. The teen escaped injury, police said. The other two men had not been involved in the fistfight, according to police. Both were treated and released at University Medical Center in Las Vegas.

Police said officers retrieved a gun believed to have been used in the shooting from a trash bin that Shepherd ran past as he left the parking garage. A second gun belonging to one of the wounded men, was found on the casino floor, according to the police affidavit, which said it had not been fired.

The incident was the second shooting at a Strip casino in less than a month. Four people were wounded and one person was hurt in a rush to exits after a gunman opened fire at the New York-New York casino early July 6.

Steven Francis Zegrean, 51, of Las Vegas, remains in custody at the Clark County jail on almost $1.5 million bail pending a Sept. 13 preliminary hearing in that case. Zegrean faces attempted murder and weapon charges that could result in a sentence of life in prison.