Man arrested after shooting self

A Pahrump man who is accused of holding his girlfriend hostage for two days and threatening to kill her was arrested Saturday after trying to kill himself as she fled the residence, police said.

Burniss Eugene Yarbrough, 52, was arrested on charges of attempted murder, false imprisonment, assault with a deadly weapon, domestic battery, discharging a firearm in a structure and ex-felon in possession of a firearm, Nye County sheriff's deputies said Monday.

Yarbrough shot himself in the head and the chest before officers arrived but survived the injuries. He was taken to University Medical Center and will be booked into the Nye County Detention Center upon his release.

Deputies were called Saturday afternoon to 1070 Ricksue St. after the woman called police and said her ex-boyfriend had shot himself after holding her captive and beating her for several days.

Yarbrough had come to her home Thursday with the intention of killing her and then killing himself, she told police. He put the gun to her head and pulled the trigger several times, but the gun malfunctioned or was not loaded, she said.