Accused shooter waives speedy bail hearing

The man accused of shooting South Lake Tahoe resident Omar Reyes Garcia at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino on March 25 will remain in custody without bail for at least three more weeks to give his attorneys more time to prepare.

A score of people attended a Tahoe Township Justice Court hearing on Tuesday as Santa Cruz resident Edgar Delgado, 24, appeared via video from the Douglas County Jail.

Attorney Max Stovall said he only received the case on March 30 and that his co-counsel was appointed on Monday, so he wasn’t ready to proceed.

He said he’d received some discovery just an hour prior to the hearing and asked for a three-week continuance.

Under Nevada law, defendants have a right to a speedy bail hearing.

Prosecutor James Sibley said that the prosecution was prepared to argue against bail for Delgado and had evidence to support their contention.

A preliminary hearing set for next week was also vacated.

A Gofundme account established to help with funeral expenses for Reyes Garcia, who grew up at South Lake Tahoe, had received 280 donations and reached $41,021 of its $35,000 goal.

Delgado, Reyes Garcia and Savannah Raquel Tautaupele, 26, appeared to meet around 2 a.m. at the Center Bar in the Hard Rock.

Sheriff Dan Coverley said video footage showed what appeared to be an argument just before Delgado was allegedly seen pulling out a handgun and shooting Reyes Garcia at around 8 a.m.

The couple fled the casino, but security footage allowed authorities to issue a description of their vehicle and they were stopped at gunpoint by the California Highway Patrol on Highway 50 near Sierra at Tahoe.

The shooting ended up shutting down the Stateline casino corridor as surrounding agencies responded at around 8 a.m. to what was reported as an active shooter.

Coverley estimated that 50-100 law enforcement officers from agencies all around Lake Tahoe responded to the shooting.

“There was a massive response from all over the region,” he said. “But ultimately this would not be considered an active shooter incident.”

Coverley said the Oct. 1, 2017, Route 91 Harvest Festival mass shooting changed the way law enforcement responds to shootings at casinos.

“The response may seem overwhelming and over the top, but that’s OK,” he said. “We treat it as an active shooter until it isn’t. One thing we do is check every room, every space, every nook and cranny in the entire casino. We do that to make sure we’re not missing any victims, because somebody else could be injured and need help and we want to be confident there are no other suspects.”

Shootings inside Stateline casinos are very rare.

In December 2005, a probationer pulled a handgun and shot two Douglas deputies in the high stakes gambling area of Harrah’s before they returned fire and killed him.

An armed Ohio attorney who tried to rob the Lakeside Inn on Oct. 23, 1987, while wearing a bulletproof vest was sentenced to 54 years in prison in 1989. David Riebel opened fire after a casino cashier refused he started shooting. Detectives shot him in the lower body as he tried to escape out the casino’s back door.