The man suspected of killing one Strip casino executive and injuring another was arrested early Thursday in north Texas, Las Vegas police said.
Anthony J. Wrobel, 42, was taken into custody by Texas law enforcement officers without incident near Vega, a town of about 900 people about 35 miles west of Amarillo, Las Vegas police said.
Oldham County sheriff’s deputies arrested Wrobel outside a rest stop about 3:30 a.m., the Texas law enforcement agency said.
“This case is a true example of good, old-fashioned police work,” Metropolitan Police Department homicide Capt. Robert Plummer told reporters in Las Vegas on Thursday.
Wrobel was being held in the Oldham County Jail, awaiting extradition to Clark County, where he faces counts of murder and attempted murder, he said.
Wrobel is suspected of going to a picnic on Sunday at Sunset Park for employees of The Venetian and opening fire on two executives.
Immediately after the shooting, Wrobel drove his black-and-purple Dodge Charger to McCarran International Airport and abandoned it for a Cadillac he had left at the airport three days earlier, Plummer said.
Stolen license plate
He apparently stole a license plate off a vehicle in Cedar City, Utah, on Tuesday and placed it on his car, which is why a deputy in Texas sought to question him, the Oldham County Sheriff’s Office said. The deputy radioed for backup after running the plate, Plummer said.
Plummer said Wrobel was asleep when the deputies approached the car. He woke up and grabbed a handgun, then dropped it when authorities confronted him.
Authorities do not know where Wrobel was going. Metro homicide investigators were traveling to Texas Thursday to interview the suspect, Plummer said.
The FBI filed a federal arrest warrant for Wrobel after discovering he had fled Nevada but did not disclose his destination. Wrobel’s Charger was found at McCarran International Airport shortly after the shooting and a criminal complaint, filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court, charged him with unlawful flight to avoid prosecution.
Mia Banks, the 54-year-old vice president of casino operations, was killed in Sunday’s attack.
Hector Rodriguez, executive director of table games, was hospitalized and critically wounded.
In a statement after the arrest, Alyssa Anderson, a spokeswoman for the Venetian’s parent company, Las Vegas Sands Corp., thanked authorities for their work leading to the arrest.
“All of us continue to mourn the loss of Mia Banks, our hearts are with Mia’s family,” she said. “We hope this news provides some solace for everyone impacted by this tragic event.”
Wounded executive improving
She also said that Rodriguez’s condition was continuing to improve “and we look forward to the day that he is released from the hospital.”
The Metropolitan Police Department has called the shooting a targeted act of workplace violence and described Wrobel as “disgruntled.” Wrobel was an employee of The Venetian at the time of the shooting and had been working at the hotel-casino as a dealer for 15 years, police said.
“(He) had planned this attack and targeted his victims,” Plummer said Tuesday of Wrobel.
The shooting sparked a nationwide manhunt. Federal investigators from the FBI, U.S. Marshals Service and Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives joined Metro in the search for Wrobel, a Las Vegas police spokesman said Monday.
Wrobel’s father, Joseph, who lives in Illinois, said Thursday that he had not spoken to his son since last month before hanging up the phone. Police said Tuesday that Wrobel’s family was cooperating in the investigation.
Sands Corp, parent company of The Venetian, offered $50,000 to anyone who provided information that led to the arrest of Wrobel.
“Plummer said Wrobel was asleep when the deputies approached the car. He woke up and grabbed a handgun, then dropped it when authorities confronted him.”
So he only kills people WITHOUT guns, apparently.
I’m glad they got the guy, Wade.
That was who wade was talking about?
I thought that was a different killing.
Huh.