LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — A judge had ordered the man accused of shooting a gun from a Las Vegas Strip hotel more than 70 times not to have a firearm before he allegedly flooded his hotel room and locked a dog in a bathroom, all because he was upset over his divorce, according to documents obtained Tuesday.
Jon Letzkus, 45, of Oregon, faces 73 criminal counts including gun charges and destruction of property, records showed. Seventy-one charges are for discharging a weapon in a prohibited area.
On Sunday morning, police received reports of several gunshots fired from a tower at The Signature at MGM Grand near Koval Lane and Harmon Avenue.
The shooting began just before 6 a.m., witnesses told Metro police. The noise was so loud, one witness described them as “explosions,” documents said. Letzkus allegedly “fired indiscriminately into the air” and toward Flamingo Road, police said.
Police located the room where the gunshots were coming from and evacuated nearby rooms. Police entered the room, finding it flooded with a dog locked in a bathroom, they said. An item in the room had Letzkus’ name on it.
Police later located Letzkus at a restaurant on the MGM property and arrested him.
Letzkus told police he was upset about his recent divorce, documents said. He said someone had knocked on his door early that morning.
“Jon said he believed if he opened the door to the people, they would throw him off the balcony to kill him,” documents said. “Jon explained he began placing heavy furniture from the room in front of the door [to] stop security from entering the room.”
Letzkus told police around the same time, “water began pouring into his room,” documents said. He then attempted to get “the attention of the [sic] police officers” by firing from his room.
“Jon was asked how many rounds he shot, and he stated it was so many he could not remember,” documents said.
Video surveillance showed Letzkus running up and down a stairwell and leaving behind ammunition, police said. At one point, Letzkus “was able to blend in with the crowd of people to walk past officers posted in the area,” police said.
A representative from MGM told police the damage from Letzkus was estimated to be more than $100,000 police said.
A judge issued a temporary protection order for Letzkus on Dec. 21, police said, prohibiting him from owning firearms.
Letzkus did not appear for his initial appearance Monday for a medical reason. He was due in court on Wednesday.
