LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — The man accused of killing a husband and wife on a busy sidewalk on the Las Vegas Strip said he shot both in self-defense because he thought they were going to shoot him, according to an arrest report.
Police said the victims, identified by the Clark County coroner as Rodney Finley, 44, and Tanisha Finley, 43, were not armed. Both suffered gunshot wounds to the head, the report said.
Manuel Ruiz, 41, made his initial appearance in Las Vegas Justice Court Tuesday morning, where a judge ordered no bail. He is facing two counts of murder.
The arrest report said Ruiz left the shooting scene, ditching his shirt, hat, and the gun before taking a rideshare only as far as New York, New York, because he didn’t have money to pay. He then walked to a friend’s house, who told him to turn himself in.
After being taken into custody, Ruiz said he was approached by Finley’s wife who was “dancing in his face.” He said he saw Finley reach for his waistband and ask, “What up cuz?’ aggressively, and believed he was reaching for a firearm, so he shot in self-defense, documents said.
He told police he fired toward Finley’s torso, but when Finley continued to move, he aimed higher. He also admitted to shooting Finley’s wife when he saw a “shiny black object” he believed to be a gun, according to the report.
The shooting appears to be the result of a long argument over social media between Ruiz and Rodney Finley. A fellow YouTube content creator told police the feud started in 2023, the report said.
The fellow YouTuber told police he watched the shooting as it happened on a live stream. He said he saw “Manny pull a gun from his front waistband and point it towards where he believed Finny [Finley] was standing … saw the muzzle flash on video and heard five to six gunshots.”
He said he then saw Finley’s wife grab the gimbal holding the phone used to live stream, and two more shots were heard, causing the phone to fall to the ground, documents said.
Two police officers on routine duty heard the gunfire and responded, finding Finley and his wife with gunshot wounds and lying on the sidewalk in front of the Bellagio fountains. Around that same time, the wife of Ruiz, Juliana Pimentel, approached police and said she believed her husband shot someone, the report stated. She said she was walking in front of her husband when she heard gunshots and ran.
Ruiz is scheduled to appear in court on Thursday, when a criminal complaint is expected to be filed.
