Crime, Guns / Firearms, Murder, Old People, Violence

Las Vegas Courthouse Shooter Had Murderous Past

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Monday’s shootout at the Lloyd George Courthouse in Las Vegas can be described as tragic, frightening, and now, surreal. Reports are out this morning that the gunman, Johnny Lee Wicks, previously served prison time for killing his brother. The ABA Journal collects the information:

Stories by the Associated Press, the Las Vegas Review-Journal, and the Memphis Commercial Appeal detail Wicks’ criminal past.
Wicks killed his brother after an argument escalated over whether his motorcycle could outrun his brother’s car, according to the Commercial Appeal account. Wicks had claimed he killed his brother in self defense, although no weapon was found near the body. He was convicted of second-degree murder and sentenced to 55 years in prison. On appeal, the sentence was reduced to 12 to 15 years, and Wicks was paroled after serving six years.

I’m not a huge fan of taking legal advice from the Bible, but surely killing your brother because you’re jealous over his sheep car deserves a harsher penalty than six years.
But we’re not done with Johnny Lee Wicks’s past. More after the jump.


Wicks killed innocent people over a Social Security benefits dispute, and he killed his brother over a theoretical drag race. I can’t say I’m surprised by the next entries on his rap sheet. The Washington Post reports:

He was accused of assault to commit rape in Sacramento in 1989, according to the FBI. But prosecutors rejected that case for insufficient evidence, said Albert Locher, assistant Sacramento County district attorney.
Wicks served jail time after pleading no contest to domestic battery in Sacramento in 1995, court records show.

Reports say law enforcement fired 81 shots in Wicks’s general direction. I guess it sometimes takes a lot of effort to stop the crazy and deranged.
Las Vegas Shooter Had Served Time for Killing His Brother [ABA Journal]
Officials cast Vegas shooting as ‘suicide mission’ [Washington Post]
Earlier: Las Vegas Shooter Follow-Up
Breaking: Shooting at Federal Courthouse in Las Vegas

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