Neighbors of the couple who ambushed two police officers Sunday in Las Vegas told local newspapers the pair had bragged about spending time at Cliven Bundy’s ranch during the standoff with the federal government earlier this year.
The two suspects, whose names have not yet been released, fatally shot two police officers who were having lunch at a CiCi’s Pizza restaurant before killing a third person at a nearby Wal-Mart. The female suspect then shot the male suspect and then herself in an apparent suicide pact.
Neighbors in an apartment complex where the two suspects lived said they “had a reputation for spouting racist, anti-government views” and boasted about their gun collection, according to the Las Vegas Sun. The newspaper reported that residents of the apartment complex who spoke about the suspects also brought up the couple’s relationship with Bundy Ranch, where the two bragged about being present for the standoff between militia members and the Bureau of Land Management.
One neighbor who lived next door to the couple told the Las Vegas Review-Journal that the male suspect had said he was kicked off Bundy Ranch at some point during the militia’s protest against the BLM.
Carol Bundy, the Nevada rancher’s wife, told the newspaper she had no reason to suspect that militia members at the ranch harbored violent intentions.
“I have not seen or heard anything from the militia and others who have came to our ranch that would, in any way, make me think they had an intent to kill or harm anyone,” Bundy told the Review-Journal.
Another resident of the apartment complex, Brandon Moore, told the Las Vegas Sun that the couple had also spoken about their plans to commit a mass shooting.
“They were handing out white-power propaganda and were talking about doing the next Columbine,” he said.
